The Criterion Collection

[ShellOilJunior]

Originally Posted by P@t_Mtl

I suspect that is why so many ask the question just to make OilJunior posting and see his avatar

I'm replying to this in hopes you reply back so I may see Audrey again.

[Abdrewes]

Jonathan Rosenbaum on Last Year at Marienbad

The Greatest Film ever Made?
http://www.jonathanrosenbaum.com/?p=7918

[ShellOilJunior]

This is a selection I wrote on Marienbad two years ago.


Last Year at Marienbad (1961)
Directed by Alain Resnais
Story and screenplay by Alain Robbie-Grillet

Criterion Collection Spine #478


There is no other film like director Alain Resnais’ Last Year at Marienbad. No other film is as completely subjective or demanding of the viewers’ minds. Penned by the champion of the nouveau roman (“new novel”) Alain Robbe-Grillet, Marienbad eschews traditional narrative and even eliminates any semblance of flashback structure. Instead, it is a continuously streaming conscious of fragmented memories from two characters whose viewpoints cannot be trusted as reliable.

The premise is simple. At a ritzy chateau inhabited by affluent jet-setters in the early 20th century X (Giorgio Albertazzi) approaches A (Delphine Seyrig) trying to convince her they met one year ago at Marienbad and had agreed to re-unite and run off together one year later. A is staying with M (Sacha Pitoëff) who was at Marienbad last year and may or may not be her husband. This his all we know.

X: I must have you alive. Alive, as you have already been every evening, for weeks, for months.
A: I have never stayed so long anywhere.
X: Yes, I know. I don't care. For days and days. Why don't you still want to remember anything?
A: You're raving! I'm tired, leave me alone!

Marienbad demands the viewer buy in from the start with an open, active mind to piece together the unsolvable enigma. There may be no solution to the puzzle but the beauty is in trying to understand. Resnais and Robbe-Grillet respected the viewer enough to allow the viewer to create one’s own interpretation and the result is a lasting work of cinematic art. Just like a trailer for the film says, it is the viewer who is the co-author and one’s experiences and mood are the determining factors.

The film is as equally hypnotic as it is puzzling. Resnais’ direction favors long, slow tracking shots through the chateau with its long hallways, high and ornate ceilings and often ghostly exterior and garden with a camera which always seems to be trying to reveal something to us and at the same time it seems cautious in its approach. Accompanying this is Sacha Vierny’s unforgettably haunting organ score which plays nicely to the level of the drama. A prime reason why I’m so fond of Marienbad and Resnais’ Hiroshima Mon Amour is the music in each film is different, evocative and especially moody. It elevates and compliments the mes en scene exceptionally well.

So we have a mind-bending and hypnotic narrative – so why is Marienbad a great film? Marienbad is undoubtedly impeccably directed, scored, acted and photographed in glorious black and white. However, the reason the film works and is great art is because it has infinite re-watchability and is ripe for a myriad of interpretations. One thing I often hear and read from those in the art world who write about or comment on paintings is a painting is “all about how it makes you feel”.

The first two times I saw Marienbad on consecutive nights at the Cleveland Cinematheque I had an entirely different feel for the film then when I saw it three or four times later. My first two viewings (this film has to be seen at least twice) I saw X as a seducer. I thought he met A last year at Marienbad but that she had repressed those memories because of an event unknown to the viewer. With subsequent viewings I considered the picture to concern A’s struggle to cope with being raped by X (or M or someone else?) last year with her trying to repress memories and him trying to dig them up.

The famous over-exposed shot of X and A in the bedroom may support this theory. In another viewing I saw A as having had an affair with X last year at Marienbad with her denying those memories so as to not be found out by her husband M. A memory, however reliable, of M shooting A in her bedroom may support this notion.
As one can see, Marienbad is open to many, many interpretations beyond the few I’ve listed in this selection. The effectiveness of the film is allowing the viewer to determine his or her own story.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

Jonathan Rosenbaum on Last Year at Marienbad

The Greatest Film ever Made?
http://www.jonathanrosenbaum.com/?p=7918

My reaction to noticing the Hitchcock image in the screenshot from the above article...

[P@t_Mtl]

Originally Posted by ccg1978

I have a copy on order from Amazon. Not sure of the ship date. I'll view via Netflix before deciding to keep my copy. I may just end up selling if anyone is interested.

Don't let my views or opinions of others influence you in this movie. Go into it with a very open mind and you may come out of it as a big fan of the movie.

[rkish]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

The film and novel were released concurrently in 1968. Arthur C. Clarke explains in the introductions to subsequent editions that he and Kubrick developed the story together, but worked respectively on the novel and film as separate entities, with neither being an adaptation of the other.

I was born in 1972, and I had a paperback edition of 2001: A Space Odyssey that included some still photos of the film across 20 pages or so in the middle of the book. I read that book several times during childhood. This was before the days of videotapes, cable channels, and such, so I was unable to see the film until I was a teenager.

Incidentally, I wonder why movie tie-in novels no longer include middle pages with photos from the movie. It seems as though all of the movie tie-in paperbacks that I owned as a child were published this way.

Well...I'm man enough to admit that I was wrong. I had read (or misread) that it was never released as a novel...and I did read it, but had always thought that it was based on the screenplay and not developed on its own as a legitimate novel.

Yes...it was really hard to see it for years after its initial release. I don't even remember ever seeing it come out on VHS (though we all saw it on LD). It was the same for Blade Runner. The first I saw of it on "home video" was on a SVHS video tape and it was the International release that was slightly longer and included a bit more violence.

[ccg1978]

Originally Posted by ShellOilJunior

This is a selection I wrote on Marienbad two years ago.


Last Year at Marienbad (1961)
Directed by Alain Resnais
Story and screenplay by Alain Robbie-Grillet

Criterion Collection Spine #478


There is no other film like director Alain Resnais’ Last Year at Marienbad. No other film is as completely subjective or demanding of the viewers’ minds. Penned by the champion of the nouveau roman (“new novel”) Alain Robbe-Grillet, Marienbad eschews traditional narrative and even eliminates any semblance of flashback structure. Instead, it is a continuously streaming conscious of fragmented memories from two characters whose viewpoints cannot be trusted as reliable.

The premise is simple. At a ritzy chateau inhabited by affluent jet-setters in the early 20th century X (Giorgio Albertazzi) approaches A (Delphine Seyrig) trying to convince her they met one year ago at Marienbad and had agreed to re-unite and run off together one year later. A is staying with M (Sacha Pitoëff) who was at Marienbad last year and may or may not be her husband. This his all we know.

X: I must have you alive. Alive, as you have already been every evening, for weeks, for months.
A: I have never stayed so long anywhere.
X: Yes, I know. I don't care. For days and days. Why don't you still want to remember anything?
A: You're raving! I'm tired, leave me alone!

Marienbad demands the viewer buy in from the start with an open, active mind to piece together the unsolvable enigma. There may be no solution to the puzzle but the beauty is in trying to understand. Resnais and Robbe-Grillet respected the viewer enough to allow the viewer to create one’s own interpretation and the result is a lasting work of cinematic art. Just like a trailer for the film says, it is the viewer who is the co-author and one’s experiences and mood are the determining factors.

The film is as equally hypnotic as it is puzzling. Resnais’ direction favors long, slow tracking shots through the chateau with its long hallways, high and ornate ceilings and often ghostly exterior and garden with a camera which always seems to be trying to reveal something to us and at the same time it seems cautious in its approach. Accompanying this is Sacha Vierny’s unforgettably haunting organ score which plays nicely to the level of the drama. A prime reason why I’m so fond of Marienbad and Resnais’ Hiroshima Mon Amour is the music in each film is different, evocative and especially moody. It elevates and compliments the mes en scene exceptionally well.

So we have a mind-bending and hypnotic narrative – so why is Marienbad a great film? Marienbad is undoubtedly impeccably directed, scored, acted and photographed in glorious black and white. However, the reason the film works and is great art is because it has infinite re-watchability and is ripe for a myriad of interpretations. One thing I often hear and read from those in the art world who write about or comment on paintings is a painting is “all about how it makes you feel”.

The first two times I saw Marienbad on consecutive nights at the Cleveland Cinematheque I had an entirely different feel for the film then when I saw it three or four times later. My first two viewings (this film has to be seen at least twice) I saw X as a seducer. I thought he met A last year at Marienbad but that she had repressed those memories because of an event unknown to the viewer. With subsequent viewings I considered the picture to concern A’s struggle to cope with being raped by X (or M or someone else?) last year with her trying to repress memories and him trying to dig them up.

The famous over-exposed shot of X and A in the bedroom may support this theory. In another viewing I saw A as having had an affair with X last year at Marienbad with her denying those memories so as to not be found out by her husband M. A memory, however reliable, of M shooting A in her bedroom may support this notion.
As one can see, Marienbad is open to many, many interpretations beyond the few I’ve listed in this selection. The effectiveness of the film is allowing the viewer to determine his or her own story.

Wow, great writeup! I'm excited to watch this now. I'll try and get the wife to watch as well so we can compare notes on what we think the film is trying to say. My wife also thinks I've gone crazy ever since I started collecting and watching Criterion films! I've warmed up to them more than she has.

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

My reaction to noticing the Hitchcock image in the screenshot from the above article...

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

If you are a fan of Last Year at Marienbad, then proceed with caution, because you will never ever ever be able to "unsee" this once you see it.

(Look into the shadows toward the right side of the picture.)

[Show spoiler]

I had never noticed this until I read the article that you just posted.

[P@t_Mtl]

Originally Posted by rkish

Well...I'm man enough to admit that I was wrong. I had read (or misread) that it was never released as a novel...and I did read it, but had always thought that it was based on the screenplay and not developed on its own as a legitimate novel.

Yes...it was really hard to see it for years after its initial release. I don't even remember ever seeing it come out on VHS (though we all saw it on LD). It was the same for Blade Runner. The first I saw of it on "home video" was on a SVHS video tape and it was the International release that was slightly longer and included a bit more violence.

How it went if I recall is that both Clark and Kubrick work together in 1965-66 to make the story. It wasn't done as a novel but more in a sort of a script for the movie. It was release as a novel even if in reality it never really was started in such a way by Clark. The sequels were novels created by him in later years. One of the main difference from what they made in the story originaly and what Kubrick did for the movie was the destination. In the original story they made together the space trip to find the monolith was to Saturn and Kurick made the change to Jupiter for the movie.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by rkish

Well...I'm man enough to admit that I was wrong. I had read (or misread) that it was never released as a novel...and I did read it, but had always thought that it was based on the screenplay and not developed on its own as a legitimate novel.

Yes...it was really hard to see it for years after its initial release. I don't even remember ever seeing it come out on VHS (though we all saw it on LD). It was the same for Blade Runner. The first I saw of it on "home video" was on a SVHS video tape and it was the International release that was slightly longer and included a bit more violence.

If it will make you feel better, I second-guessed myself at first and looked up the novel online to make sure that it was, indeed, released concurrently.

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

If you are a fan of Last Year at Marienbad, then proceed with caution, because you will never ever ever be able to "unsee" this once you see it.

(Look into the shadows toward the right side of the picture.)

[Show spoiler]

I had never noticed this until I read the article that you just posted.

Oh No!

[ccg1978]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

If you are a fan of Last Year at Marienbad, then proceed with caution, because you will never ever ever be able to "unsee" this once you see it.

(Look into the shadows toward the right side of the picture.)

[Show spoiler]

I had never noticed this until I read the article that you just posted.

wow! This guy has cameo's in too many movies!

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

Oh No!

Haha. Yeah.

Like most dudes who watch Last Year at Marienbad, I am so fixated on Delphine Seyrig whenever I revisit the film that I'm either looking directly at her or waiting impatiently for her to show up on the screen again. There's no telling what other peripheral details I've missed with each viewing.

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Haha. Yeah.

Like most dudes who watch Last Year at Marienbad, I am so fixated on Delphine Seyrig whenever I revisit the film that I'm either looking directly at her or waiting impatiently for her to show up on the screen again. There's no telling what other peripheral details I've missed with each viewing.

I can see why

[Abdrewes]

By the way, has everyone been to film-grab.com? I often frequent the site when looking for a new avatar as they have tons of great stills.

[monorail91]

Originally Posted by RomanBlade86

When the heck will there be another Criterion sale from Criterion themselves or Barnes & Noble?

I asked the guy working the Movies & TV section at my B&N and he said there will be another one soon. This was in mid-March. He didn't offer a specific date/month though.

[ccg1978]

Originally Posted by monorail91

I asked the guy working the Movies & TV section at my B&N and he said there will be another one soon. This was in mid-March. He didn't offer a specific date/month though.

what can a non-member expect to pay per film during this sale? I'm looking at getting On The Waterfront, Rosemarie's Baby and a few other films.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

By the way, has everyone been to film-grab.com? I often frequent the site when looking for a new avatar as they have tons of great stills.

I just visited that site for the first time.

Brigitte Bardot screenshots from Contempt!

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I just visited that site for the first time.

Brigitte Bardot screenshots from Contempt!

[Show spoiler]