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Product Description
Widely considered to be one of the masterpieces of the French New Wave, this existentialist fantasy tale is the result of a collaboration between director Alain Resnais and French novelist Alain Robbe-Grillet. In a luxury hotel somewhere in Europe, an unnamed man (Giorgio Albertazzi) attempts to persuade one of his fellow guests, a similarly unnamed married woman (Delphine Seyrig), that they have not only previously met, but that they had an affair and made plans to elope together. The woman, however, does not appear to recognise him, and so begins a cinematic puzzle that questions the very nature of truth and narrative.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
73 of 75 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Wont comment on the film itself, which has inspired learned articles and theses in its day and up to now.
But this edition of the film is appalling, because of the subtitles, which detract from the action for three reasons:
-They are too big, and at times actually hide the action as when they completely obscure the table on which a game is being played.
-They are sometimes inaccurate or incomplete.
-But last and worse, unlike the subtitles on most civilised DVDs, THESE CANNOT BE TURNED OFF !
Had this been made clear in the description of the DVD I would certainly have refrained from buying this item, and avoided the film-long frustration caused by the ******* subtitles.
But this edition of the film is appalling, because of the subtitles, which detract from the action for three reasons:
-They are too big, and at times actually hide the action as when they completely obscure the table on which a game is being played.
-They are sometimes inaccurate or incomplete.
-But last and worse, unlike the subtitles on most civilised DVDs, THESE CANNOT BE TURNED OFF !
Had this been made clear in the description of the DVD I would certainly have refrained from buying this item, and avoided the film-long frustration caused by the ******* subtitles.
67 of 72 people found the following review helpful
By Jason Parkes
#1 HALL OF FAME
Format:DVD
'Last Year at Marienbad' followed Alain Resnais' prior works concerned with memory and spatial-time, the documentary 'Night & Fog' and 'Hiroshima Mon Amour.' As with 'Hiroshima...' we have a male and female couple at the centre of things- though Resnais collaborates with a different author to Margaret Duras, the oblique writer Alain Robbe-Grillet.
The "story" is quite confounding - simple yet ambiguous : in a vast baroque hotel a man (X) attempts to entice a woman (A) into an affair away from another man (M)- persuading her that they met the previous year at Marienbad (or was it Frederickbad?). That's the plot or story, but Resnais & Robbe-Grillet, with hypnotic cinematography, playful elements (moving objects around in the scenery, suggesting a break with reality)& complex-editing present the film as one of those cinematic mysteries that some will love, others will loathe.
Anyone who has enjoyed such films as Antonioni's 'L'Aventura' & 'Blow Up', Bergman's 'Persona', Roeg & Cammell's 'Performance' & David Lynch's 'Lost Highway' & 'Mulholland Drive' will find much here they should enjoy - it certainly tips the post-modern likes of 'The Usual Suspects' into a cocked hat! 'Last Year at Marienbad' remains one of the great films of the 1960s and stands as one of the great works of the European New Wave of the late 1950s and early 1960s, alongside such classics as 'Les Quatres Cents Coups','Bande a Part','Les Amants' & the aforementioned 'L'Aventura.' Anyone interested remotely in cinema and its dreamlike, oblique possibilities should watch this film...
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By DH Dixon
Format:DVD
This symbolic film may be weird to watch and difficult to enjoy, but over the decades it has become one of my favourite films. You will need to appreciate cinema art to like it. The story is deliberately stylized for its symbolic meaning but the art is spell-binding. The black and white photography is terrific and most of the difficulty is in the music, which is for church organ, but this music is important to the symbolism of the film. Stiff and "formal" is the style and haunting and magical is the overall effect. The role of the husband and the actor who plays him develops a lot of power along the way and this is one of my favourite character performances.
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4.2 out of 5 stars
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Confusion about subtitles - the truth!
Amazon has amalgamated reviews for five different versions. Some have removable subtitles, others not. Here's the situation, for those interested. Listed in order of issue. Read more
Published 28 days ago by Vermillion
4.0 out of 5 stars
You should be able to turn off English subtitles
Good film. Visually and aurally fascinating. Could not turn off English subtitles though. They distract from listening AND seeing. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Broz
1.0 out of 5 stars
Subtitles - the abyss
I'm disturbed by white subtitles against a dark background...reminiscent of Herlanbacher's existentialist nightmare. Read more
Published 8 months ago by B. Walker
4.0 out of 5 stars
Superb film but the transfer might have been better.
There's no need to review the film. That's been done many times since its screening in Cannes in 1961. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Wildfire
5.0 out of 5 stars
Old World Class and Elegance
Not that I suspect that the Left Bank Alan Resnais would care much about that sort of thing, but there you go. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Guy reid-brown
5.0 out of 5 stars
The greatest new wave film ever
One of the greatest films ever made. Every time I have watched this film I see something new.
Every scene is one of sheer beauty. Read more
Every scene is one of sheer beauty. Read more
Published 23 months ago by Barclays
4.0 out of 5 stars
Extraordinary
Last Year in Marienbad is a truly extraordinary, bewitching film that everyone who is interested in cinema should see, especially if they like their films challenging, enigmatic,... Read more
Published on 4 May 2011 by J Rossney
5.0 out of 5 stars
As exciting now as when it was first made
I remember first seeing this in the sixties and being enthralled by its hypnotic beauty. It is not an easy film to watch, but is well worth the effort. Read more
Published on 6 Jun 2010 by
5.0 out of 5 stars
Marienbad for ever
This is the film that marked an era, very controversial because it was really something new.
Delphine Seyrig is just fabulous. Read more
Delphine Seyrig is just fabulous. Read more
Published on 28 Mar 2010 by Teresa Levy
4.0 out of 5 stars
Fascinating riddle
One of the most enigmatic movies of all times. It follows a man and woman in a strange circle of lies, deception and betrayal in an ever recurring sequence of acquaintances and... Read more
Published on 6 Oct 2009 by Mental Floss
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