Hiroshima Mon Amour

[Stacy]

Not a war film, but a beautiful film full of analogy and metaphor. Worth watching.

Review
This is an exceptional film, marking Alain Resnais’ debut as a film director, after a decade of producing eye-opening short documentaries. Indeed, Hiroshima mon amour started out as a documentary about the reconstruction of Hiroshima, and the first fifteen minutes of the film uses documentary footage to great effect to set the scene.
As in many of his subsequent films, Resnais uses his unique approach of weaving memories and actual events to create an illusion of ghostly timelessness. Phrases are repeated again and again, the camera pans listlessly along lifeless scenery, and dialogue is played over documentary footage of the rebuilding of Hiroshima. The overall effect leaves a profound impression of regret and self-inflected torment, perfectly captured by Emmanuelle’s emotionally charged performance.

A central theme of the film is the necessity to come to terms with the horrors of the past. Both characters in the film (the actress and the architect) have painful memories of the war, and their liaison seems to represent some kind of rapprochement between East and West. "You are Hiroshima. You are Nevers" is how the film ends, suggesting that the torment of the Hiroshima disaster, like the painful love affair, will one day be forgotten.

Few films leave such a lasting impression as Resnais’ Hiroshima mon amour. The stunning photography of contemporary Hiroshima, blended with bleak images of war-time France, is pure art, brought to life by a moving musical score. Whilst lacking the structure of the conventional film form, this film offers an experience that is supremely more satisfying and profoundly moving.

[TRDG]

Interesting Stacy, I may have to check that out, any word on the actors, are they pretty good?

Cheers, thanks

Tom

[Whiterook]

Wow, that certainly does look interesting!

[Stacy]

Originally Posted by TRDG

Interesting Stacy, I may have to check that out, any word on the actors, are they pretty good?

Cheers, thanks

Tom

The Japanese actor, Eiji Okada, didn't know a word of French and learned his lines phonetically. Both he and Emmanuelle Riva did very well. This is a visually stunning film. Again, not really a war film, rather artsy, but worth a watch.

[krieg]

this is one i haven't seen diden't even know of him ...
best krieg