"Last Year at Marienbad" by Alain Resnais [1961]. A surrealist film which seems to have no known meaning, short of a tryst that is put on hold and continues to play out like Bill Murray's weatherman "Groundhog Day". Not sure what I would have thought of this movie if it wasn't listed in "THE BOOK". Left to interpret it on my own, I might have given up on this one at the very beginning, but about 20 minutes in, I seemed to have been sucked into the hodge-podge of events, shown in no particular order, trying to piece together the sequence of events. However, I think part of the beauty in this movie, is the setting. A baroque style hotel, that must have been dazzling to behold in color, but we were forced to watch in black and white. According to introduction made by a film critic this film is revered and reviled for many of the same reasons. It's unconventional story and the fact that backgrounds, though visible are often without activity, with supporting actors seeming to pose while the foreground gushes in verbal gibberish. Camera sweeps actually framing on images of guests frozen in their activity, not stills but seemingly frozen. May seem a bit pretentious at first but eventually it becomes an effect for the entire mood of the film.Viewing this movie reminded me of an earlier viewing of Maya Deren's "Meshes of the Afternoon" [1948] as well as Alexander Sokurov's "Russian Ark" [2002]. Could Resnais have been crafting an homage to Deren while Sokurov returned the favor decades later. The Mrs also noticed a similarity between, this work and many of those of David Lynch. Especially the most recently seen "Inland Empire".
No comments:
Post a Comment