Last Year at Marienbad (1961)

In a strange and isolated chateau, a man becomes acquainted with a woman and insists that they have met before.

Director:

Alain Resnais

Writer:

Alain Robbe-Grillet (scenario and dialogue)

Stars:

Delphine Seyrig, Giorgio Albertazzi, Sacha Pitoëff

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 2 wins & 4 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.

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Plot Keywords:

surrealism | hotel | french new wave | uncertainty | nonlinear timeline | 

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Taglines:

Evocative, compelling, fascinating, different - an important motion picture, an exceptional work of art from the brilliant

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery

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Certificate:

Not Rated

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 "An Enemy of the People".

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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.

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Quotes

X: [Last Lines] The grounds of the hotel were symmetrically arranged, without trees or flowers, or plants of any kind. The gravel, the stone, and the marble were spread in strict array in unmysterious shapes. At first sight, it seemed impossible to lose your way. At first sight... Along these stone paths and amidst these statues, where you were already losing your way forever in the still night, alone with me.

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Connections

Featured in Fejezetek a film történetéböl: A francia új hullám (1990)

User Reviews

The Persistence of Memory

The title of Dali's best known work is an apt description of this film. A man meets a woman at a European spa and tries to convince her (and himself) that they met one year ago. While the plot is simple, its presentation is not. I first saw L'annee derniere a Marienbad while taking a French Film class in college. Of the dozen or so films we watched, Marienbad has stayed with me the longest. The nameless protagonist's memories repeat, sometimes minutely changed, sometimes not. The same organ motifs echo again and again, all against the backdrop of elegant hallways and sitting rooms. Through all this, the man attempts to spirit the woman away from her husband/companion, while at the same time establish once and for all what happened last year and what did not. More than any other film, Marienbad has shown me the difference between American film conventions and what else is possible. While so many American releases are rigidly plot driven, Marienbad uses film as a tool for exploration and introspection. Instead of linear story telling, director Resnais allows his characters to explore the details of what may be memory or just imagination. Against a detached, almost stoical background of extras and cool interiors, Delphin Seyrig and Giorgio Albertazzi display a sharp contrast of passion, pleading, and denial. I agree with a previous reviewer that much of the look of Marienbad has been appropriated by commercials for perfume; however, if you haven't seen this film before, you most likely have never seen anything quite so surreal.

Details

Country:

France Italy

Language:

French

Release Date:

7 March 1962 (USA)

Also Known As:

Last Year at Marienbad

Filming Locations:

Antiquarium, Residenz München, Munich, Bavaria, Germany

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$15,485, 20 January 2008

Gross USA:

$207,917

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$220,009

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