In this unconventional French drama, a group of unnamed aristocrats interact at a palatial château, resulting in an enigmatic tale told partially in flashback. X (Giorgio Albertazzi) is convinced that he has met the beautiful A (Delphine Seyrig) before in the Czech resort town of Marienbad, and implies they had a romantic relationship. M (Sacha Pitoeff), who may be A’s husband or boyfriend, confronts her mysterious suitor, leading to conflict and questions about the truth behind his story.
“In “Last Year at Marienbad,” Resnais (working with a script by Alain Robbe-Grillet) avoids any explicit reference to practical politics (and, indeed, to anything about life outside the resort where it’s set, other than the weather)—yet nonetheless evokes Europe in the nineteen-thirties. He conjures a sophisticated scene of exquisite haut-bourgeois and aristocratic comfort and refinement that, by eliding any direct reference to the brewing storm, calls attention horrifically to the role that precisely such obliviousness played in the arrival of the Second World War.” – New Yorker
Starring Delphine Seyrig, Giorgio Albertazzi, Sacha Pitoëff, Françoise Bertin, Luce Garcia-Ville.
In French with English subtitles.
Not rated.