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Last Year at Marienbad

film by Resnais [1961]
Also known as: “L’Année dernière à Marienbad”

Quick Summary

Last Year at Marienbad is a 1961 French film directed by Alain Resnais. It is a postmodern mystery that explores themes of memory, thought processes, and the nature of reality. The film is known for its ambiguous narrative, questioning the reliability of perception and the fluidity of time and individual consciousness. Resnais collaborated with writer Alain Robbe-Grillet, who crafted the script as a piece of literature rather than a traditional screenplay, which Resnais then translated into cinematic terms. The film's style is characteristic of the French New Wave, emphasizing visual storytelling and challenging conventional narrative structures.12

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