If ever there was a film fitting
the bill ‘Beyond Definition,’ this might be the one. Beginning his career as a
documentary filmmaker, Alain Resnais made the transition into fictional
features in 1959, working with Marguerite Duras on Hiroshima Mon Amour. That
film itself is an extraordinary, enigmatic work, but nothing compares to Last
Year In Marienbad. Whereas the former was more condensed, the primary focus
being the central relationship through which Resnais/Duras explore their themes,
Marienbad is a great dive into the wild blue yonder. Written by Alain Robbe-Grillet,
it’s oneiric, dream-like qualities are boundless in scope, a net cast so far
that the cryptic nature has been deemed by some as incomprehensible. Indeed,
the film doesn’t exactly disprove that label; the three main characters are
unnamed, referred to in the unpublished screenplay as A (Delphine Seyrig), X
(Giorgio Albertazzi) and M (Sacha Pitoeff) respectively, and there are no solid
conclusions to be made from a given scene, never mind the film as a whole, so
completely cast in ambiguity. But that’s what so brilliant about it! We draw
our own conclusions from the interconnected scenes. We bring our own meanings
to the table. Even though it’s a beautifully designed, highly atmospheric,
austere, aurally hypnotic and immaculately framed picture, it has the same
aesthetic qualities of a blank canvas. I think it’s a wondrous and stimulating
work; whether or not you think the same way is another matter, but I can
guarantee a head-spinning experience.
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