196 - Hiroshima Mon Amour

[captainofbeef]

- New high-definition digital transfer
- Audio commentary by film historian Peter Cowie
- Cinepanorama interview with Alain Resnais (1961)
- Audio interview with Alain Resnais (1980)
- Emmanuelle Riva interviewed by François Chalais at Cannes (1959)
- Excerpts from Duras’ annotations to the screenplay
- Isolated music and effects track
- A new essay on the film by Kent Jones
- A new essay on composer Giovanni Fusco by Russell Lack
- New and improved English subtitle translation
- Optimal image quality: RSDL dual-layer edition

[blackmoses]

Masterpiece!

[criterionmaster]

Indeed, I just watched this film and I am working on some thoughts to post.

[blackmoses]

I am very happy that you liked the film!

[Nomansvally]

One of my top 15 favourite films, so beautiful but also eeire. I get goosebumps just typing now.

[criterionmaster]

Here are some thoughts on the film, it was really hard for me to say everything I wanted to say about it though.
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The film begins with the images of a man and a woman in bed. They are making love. The woman (Emmanuelle Riva) begins to tell about events that happened in Hiroshima, the man (Eiji Okada) constantly denying these horrifying images that are being presented on the screen. Resnais doesn’t shine away; he shows images of bloody children, eyes being lost, and countless other horrible things straight on. Finally after the she finishes the camera moves back to reveal that it is a French woman sleeping with a Japanese man. They are the character we will follow the next 90 minutes as their emotion and intimacy are presented on screen. The dilemma of the film is they are having an affair, but both become very close over the next 48 hours, will the woman stay or leave?



The woman throughout the film is constantly haunted by things that happened in a place called Nevers, she is terrified of the place and what happened, while the man is fascinated. He keeps saying “Nevers,” he becomes almost obsessed with how beautiful it sounds to him. **Spoiler** So much so that at the end he then refers to her as “Nevers” and she refers to him as “Hiroshima.” **End Spoiler**

The film and screenplay are like poetry. The way Resnais shoots the images are so beautiful. The whole beginning of the film, with the man and woman talking features very limited camera movements; we are really in the scene with them, listening in as they talk. The close-ups in the film are bold, the actor’s faces telling their emotions. With so few characters it leaves room to really examine these two people, inside and out. Studying their every move and action. The performances are so strong, so real. The leads put all their emotion on the screen. They give it their all and it is really a draining experience.

The flashbacks are so masterfully woven into the film that you don’t even notice, the story just has that way of flowing, like a good book. There were parts where the language completely changed and I didn’t even realize; I was so absorbed in the story. So eerie, so dreamlike in which you just float along with these characters.

The music evokes the right emotions in you. It is truly one of the most perfect scores I have ever heard, it does all that and then some. It was one of the main reasons the film had such a haunting dream-like quality.

**Spoilers**

There is no solution at the end of the film; will she stay having an affair with this man? The film doesn’t answer this; it is up to the audience to decide whether or not they will continue their affair. The film does conclude, it concludes with one of the best scenes ever committed to film, a scene so emotionally strong that I was left silent at the end, I literally just laid there. The scene, as I mentioned before, where the man will now remember the woman as “Nevers” and the woman remember the man as “Hiroshima”.

**End Spoiler**

Resnais gives, what is in my opinion, the best directorial debut ever. His style is so poetic; he clearly loves the story and characters and put everything into this film. His heart is in the film. His style, with beautiful black and white photography and bold close-ups, shows that he is (was) a master. The shots are just stunning.

The film is still as emotionally and physically powerful as it ever could have been. It evoked emotion in me that has never been evoked before, and may never be again. Truly deserving of its place in film history for the way the story is told and the way the film is acted, acted in such a way as to hit something inside you and to not let go of you. In its haunting imagery and story Resnais created one of the best films ever made.

I already must re-watch the film as just writing this review I can tell there is more to be found, seen, and heard.





Final Score: Perfect