Last
Year At Marienbad (1961), is the follow up film of Alain Resnais’ ground
breaking and experimental film Hiroshima
Mon Amour. Written by Alain Robbe-Grillet and starring Delphine Seyrig and
Giorgio Albertazzi, it is as divisive 52 years after its release as it was at
its debut. The film can be be aptly summarized in a synopsis, but it would be
nowhere near a conclusive and accurate portrayal of the events that are
depicted. The audience follows A (La Femme) and X (L’Homme), in the spa hotel
Marienbad. X continuously hounds A with events and memories that happened last
year at Marienbad, when the two were apparently lovers. A man named M who could be a lover, husband,
or guardian, but is never made clear, keeps watch and is wary of the two while
the events take place. However A is unsure and unaware of these assertions and
memories. Thus begins a surrealist and existentialist trip within the memory
and existence of these two individuals.
