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.

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Plot Keywords:

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

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Taglines:

...from the measureless depths of a woman's emotions...

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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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

This started life as a documentary about the nuclear bomb drop on Hiroshima until Alain Resnais decided to include fictional elements.

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Goofs

After they leave the teahouse, a shot from the side shows Lui standing behind Elle to her left with a gap of about a foot and a half. The next frontal shot shows him standing directly behind her with only a small gap between them.

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Quotes

Lui: [First lines] You saw nothing in Hiroshima. Nothing.
Elle: I saw everything. Everything.

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Connections

Referenced in What's My Line?: Yves Montand - 2nd appearance as mystery guest (1967)

User Reviews

Psychoanalysis in Cinema

As a follow up to his monumental documentary "Nuit et brouillard" (Night and Fog), Resnais continues in his war motif with a chilling and powerful statement on the post-modernist, post-war world. An incarnation of a Marguerite Duras screen-play, "Hiroshima mon amour" depicts the confusion surrounding an eracinated and war-stricken people.

Questioning the possibility of Mimesis--"Tu n'as rien vu à Hiroshima. Rien!" (You saw nothing in Hiroshima. Nothing!)-- Resnais rejects the notion of re-creation or imitation, conforming to the philosophies of Roland Barthes and Jacques Derrida and thus calling into question his own efforts in "Nuit et brouillard." At the same time, he adheres to the Aristotelian ideal that the purpose of Mimesis is the cathartic effect produced by pity and terror, and not merely the representation.

Appealing also to Freudian psychoanalysis, the characters are forced to re-examine the effects of the pathology in attempt to reconstruct the past and determine the cause. (Notice Resnais' use of lighting in the reconstruction scene.) Subtle clues throughout enable the viewer to piece together the story and perform their own psychoanalysis of the situation. A young woman from Nevers, France vows to "never" return to her hometown and the viewer is left to determine the cause.

In my opinion, one of the top ten films of all time, "Hiroshima mon amour" is a work of art that all lovers of cinema must see. Resnais is a cinematographic genius, and his ambivalent depiction of post-war Japan and France in the characters of "Him" and "Her" make this film a cultural landmark as well as masterpiece of post-war, post-modernist art.