369. L'Annee Derniere a Marienbad

L'Annee Derniere a Marienbad
Last Year at Marienbad
1961
Directed by Alain Resnais

Well, that was a weird one.  No one seems to have any idea what really happened in this movie.  I think the fun comes from forming your own theory and yelling at other people via the internet who have a different opinion.  At least, that is what my research yielded.  In any case, I found it to be confusing to the point of annoying.

So this guy, X, (real names are so passé) tells this woman that they met a year ago and agreed to meet up in a year.  A, the woman, says this never happened.  Then, M, her husband, denies it as well.  And then, that's kind of it.  After that I, as in Amanda, kind of zoned out.

I am sorry people, I could not get into this one.  To me, it just came across as pretentious and dull.  This was very disappointed, because I have loved all of Resnais' other work.

I had no idea what was going on and what's worse, I didn't care.

RATING: **---

Interesting Facts:

Included in "The Fifty Worst Films of All Time".  Are intellectuals actually on my side for this?  Very shocking.

See for yourself:

351. Hiroshima Mon Amour

Hiroshima Mon Amour
1959
Directed by Alain Resnais

This is a film I watched awhile ago after being thoroughly impressed by Resnais' Night and Fog.  This time, Resnais does another World War II film, but I am afraid he might have peaked too early.

I knew after watching this movie that I was not a fan, but I had a little trouble figuring out why.  I guess I had a problem with the script.  The words people were saying just weren't believable.  Perhaps it was the translation, but no one talks like that.  I could put an example in this post, but you really have to experience the whole film to know what I mean.  It is like reading out loud a book, rather than two people having a conversation.

And, of course, if I had a problem with the script, I would have a problem with the whole movie since it is basically just one long conversation between a man and a woman.  If the dialogue had seemed natural and flowed, this could be a great movie.  However, I just wasn't buying it.

This is a film that I will give another try.  Unfortunately, it didn't impress me this time around.

RATING: **---

Interesting Facts:

First use of very short flashbacks to represent haunting memories.

Originally was going to be a documentary but Resnais decided to include fictional aspects so he wouldn't repeat himself.

299. Nuit et Brouillard

Nuit et Brouillard
Night and Fog
1955
Directed by Alain Resnais

This is the least disturbing picture I could find of the film; if you are a genuinely queasy person, I did not want to freak you out.

This is one of the shorter films (only a half hour) but it is probably one of the most intense films on the list.  This is a documentary of the concentration camps.  The film flips between photos from the Holocaust and pictures from ten years later.  Needless to say, it is extremely disturbing.

All of us are familiar with the Holocaust. Most of us have learned about it since as early as middle school.  I really thought I knew the most disturbing facts and that I knew all about the concentration camps.  I mean, we all have seen at least a dozen movies on the topic and probably have read a large number of books about it.  I even visited Anne Frank's house in Holland.

However, as I found out from this film, there are plenty of things I did not know (or want to know) about the genocide.  The theme of the movie is the idea that history will always repeat itself and the Holocaust could happen again and again (and, of course, since this film has come out, it has).  I am always amazed that it has been less than a hundred years since the Holocaust happened; I can't even imagine what it would be like watching this a mere ten years later.

If you are going to watch this film, be prepared to have it stick with you for the rest of your life.

RATING: ***** (I feel kind of weird rating this but it is a very emotional movie that will stick with me)

Interesting Facts:

Francis Truffaut considers this the greatest movie ever made.

Jean Cayrol, a Holocaust survivor, worked on the script.

One of the first films to deal with the Holocaust.