Foreign Films, French, Romance, War, Recommended, Character Study, New Wave (Film), Theatrical Release, Essential Cinema
Hiroshima Mon Amour DVD Description
In Alain Resnais's artistic adaptation of Margueurite Duras's HIROSHIMA MON AMOUR, a French actress working in Japan meets a Japanese architect with whom she has an affair. Their relationship consists largely of conversations about the bombing at Hiroshima, the horrors that he and his family endured, and her perception of it back home in occupied France. With a camera that operates sometimes like a slide show, other times like a space vessel--switching easily in and out of flashbacks and gently blending footage of both Japan and France--the story unfolds more like a collection of memories than a chronological narrative. Perhaps the most dramatic scene is the unforgettable opener: An impeccably beautiful close-up in black and white depicts lovers writhing first in the ash of bomb fallout, which is washed away by rain, then, as their skin dries, they begin to perspire from making love. She--the nameless female lead (Emmanuele Riva)--remembers everything of the war. But He--the nameless male lead (Eiji Okada)--challenges her to determine if what she remembers is real or just a projection. As with most Marquerite Duras novels, it's hard to determine exactly what happened and what didn't. HIROSHIMA MON AMOUR is truly like a poem, using the emotional words of Duras to propel Resnais's ultrapowerful images.
DVD Features
Region 1 Keep Case Single Side - Dual Layer Full Frame - 1.33 Audio: Dolby Digital Mono 1.0 - English Additional Release Material: Alternate Audio Tracks: Music and Effects Track Audio Commentary: Peter Cowie - Film Historian Interviews: 1. Emmanuelle Riva - Star 2. Alain Resnais - Director Text/Photo Galleries: Essays: 1. Kent Jones Screenplay Excerpts
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