Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959)

A French actress filming an anti-war film in Hiroshima has an affair with a married Japanese architect as they share their differing perspectives on war.

Director:

Alain Resnais

Writer:

Marguerite Duras

Stars:

Emmanuelle Riva, Eiji Okada, Stella Dassas

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 6 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Emmanuelle Riva	...	Elle (as Emmanuele Riva)
Eiji Okada	...	Lui
Stella Dassas	...	Mother
Pierre Barbaud	...	Father
Bernard Fresson	...	German Lover

Storyline

A French woman and a Japanese man have an affair while she is in Japan making a film about peace and the impact of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, The man, an architect, lost his family in the bombing. She recalls her lover during the war, a 23 year-old German soldier who later died. Despite the time they spend together, her attachment appears minimal and they go forward into the future.

---

Plot Keywords:

atomic bomb | nuclear bomb | memory | lovers separation | impossible love | 

---

Taglines:

When God's silence falls upon men.

---

Genres:

Drama | Romance

---

Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

France Japan

Language:

French Japanese English

Release Date:

16 May 1960 (USA)

Also Known As:

Hiroshima Mon Amour

Filming Locations:

3bis Place de la République, Nevers, Nièvre, France

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$18,494, 17 October 2014, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$88,300, 2 January 2015

Company Credits

Production Co:

Argos Films,Como Films,Daiei Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The scene in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum early in the film includes several scenes from the 1953 Japanese film Hiroshima (1953), which starred Japanese actor Eiji Okada, who also plays the leading role in this movie. For obvious reasons, no footage that featured Okada from the earlier Japanese production was included.

---

Goofs

When Elle leaves the hotel to go the set, she is wearing a nurse's uniform with a headscarf and carrying a black handbag. When Lui meets her on the set, she is now wearing a skirt and blouse and still has the headscarf. When they leave the set, the headscarf is left behind. When they get to Lui's house, she now has a white jacket.

---

Quotes

Lui: Perhaps I was dreaming, without realizing it.

---

Connections

Referenced in The Reunion (1963)

User Reviews

Persistence of Memory

"Hiroshima mon amour" (1959) is an extraordinary tale of two people, a French actress and a Japanese architect - a survivor of the blast at Hiroshima. They meet in Hiroshima fifteen years after August 6, 1945 and become lovers when she came there to working on an antiwar film. They both are hunted by the memories of war and what it does to human's lives and souls. Together they live their tragic past and uncertain present in a complex series of fantasies and nightmares, flashes of memory and persistence of it. The black-and-white images by Sasha Vierney and Mikio Takhashi, especially the opening montage of bodies intertwined are unforgettable and the power of subject matter is undeniable. My only problem is the film's Oscar nominated screenplay. It works perfectly for the most of the film but then it begins to move in circles making the last 20 minutes or so go on forever.