Last Year at Marienbad (1961)
"L'année dernière à Marienbad" (original title)

Takes place in a chateau, an ambiguous story of a man and a woman who may or may not have met last year at Marienbad.

Director:

Alain Resnais

Writer:

Alain Robbe-Grillet (scenario and dialogue)

Stars:

Delphine Seyrig, Giorgio Albertazzi, Sacha Pitoëff

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 2 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Delphine Seyrig	...	A - la femme brune
Giorgio Albertazzi	...	X - l'homme à l'accent italien
Sacha Pitoëff	...	M - l'autre homme au visage maigre, le mari
Françoise Bertin	...	Un personnage de l'hôtel
Luce Garcia-Ville	...	Un personnage de l'hôtel
Héléna Kornel	...	Un personnage de l'hôtel
Françoise Spira	...	Un personnage de l'hôtel
Karin Toche-Mittler
Pierre Barbaud	...	Un personnage de l'hôtel
Wilhelm von Deek	...	Un personnage de l'hôtel
Jean Lanier	...	Un personnage de l'hôtel
Gérard Lorin	...	Un personnage de l'hôtel
Davide Montemurri	...	Un personnage de l'hôtel (as Davide Montemuri)
Gilles Quéant	...	Un personnage de l'hôtel
Gabriel Werner

Storyline

In a huge, old-fashioned luxury hotel a stranger tries to persuade a married woman to run away with him, but it seems she hardly remembers the affair they may have had (or not?) last year at Marienbad.

---

Plot Keywords:

hotel | chateau | cult director | oneiric | uncertainty | 

---

Taglines:

It Has The "Marienbad Look"

---

Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Romance

---

Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

France Italy

Language:

French

Release Date:

7 March 1962 (USA)

Also Known As:

Last Year at Marienbad

Filming Locations:

Amalienburg Hunting Lodge, Nymphenburg Palace, Munich, Bavaria, Germany

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$19,113 (USA) (18 January 2008)

Gross:

$143,381 (USA) (8 August 2008)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cocinor, Terra Film, Cormoran Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The characters in the hotel attend a performance of a Henrik Ibsen play. Director Alain Resnais discovered Delphine Seyrig in an American stage production of Ibsen's "Enemy of the People".

---

Goofs

Exterior night scenes were shot day-for-night, but the sky and reflections of it were allowed in the frame, and they appear as bright white instead of black. This may have been intentional to emphasize the surreality of the film.

---

Quotes

[X wanders through the hotel's corridors cataloging items he sees]
X: Empty salons. Corridors. Salons. Doors. Doors. Salons. Empty chairs, deep armchairs, thick carpets. Heavy hangings. Stairs, steps. Steps, one after the other. Glass objects, objects still intact, empty glasses. A glass that falls, three, two, one, zero. Glass partition, letters.

---

Connections

Referenced in Bed & Board (1970)

User Reviews

Genuine Art Film

Years come and go, but "Marienbad" seems to remain the same--intriguing, challenging, stimulating, and moving. Alain Resnais' classic emerges as a timeless work, with a memorable score (utilizing unique pipe organ music) by Francis Seyrig and striking photography by Sacha Vierny. Delphine Seyrig and Giorgio Albertazzi play out their "roles" amidst dark corridors, empty halls, baroque statuary and geometric gardens. Time seems to stand still in the world of Resnais and Alain Robbe-Grillet, as our rapt attention is focused on its distinctive unfoldment. The meaning seems to be in the work and the solution in the problem. We simply take it in and allow it to speak for itself.

"Marienbad" is one of those films which requires a full- size widescreen and an excellent print to weave its haunting magic. It's a one-of-a-kind film experience, and one to which one can return again and again to enjoy as a mystery, romance or meditation.