L'Annee Derniere A Marienbad (aka Last Year At Marienbad) (1961)

At a palatial luxury hotel surrounded by gardens, a man (Giorgio Albertazzi) approaches a woman (Delphine Seyrig) and reminds her that they met the year before when they had an affair. She denies this but the man continues to insist it happened. Did it? Directed by Alain Resnais (STAVISKY). I haven't seen MARIENBAD in over 50 years but I distinctly remember loathing it. Fifty years later, have my feelings changed? Yes, somewhat. While I can no longer say I loathe the film, my feelings toward it are ambiguous. While I can appreciate the artistry and images (Sacha Vierny's cinematography is impeccable) and how Resnais was trying to push the limits of cinema toward a new cinematic language, closer to a novel than a movie. I still, however, find it one of the most pretentious movies ever made. We pretty much get it at the halfway mark yet we're fed more of the surrealistic but repetitive narrative for another 45 minutes. The acting is irrelevant in a movie like this. The actors recite their lines dutifully if inexpressively for the proper effect. I found it more interesting for its visuals than its narrative. I found myself not really caring what Resnais was trying to say (I suspect he wasn't trying to say anything, he just wants the mood). Delphine Seyrig looks smashing in her soignee Chanel coutoure. With Sacha Pitoeff as Seyrig's husband (or possibly her lover).