Hiroshima mon amour

Alain Resnais’ debut, Hiroshima mon amour follows a French actress (Emmanuelle Riva) as she and her lover, a Japanese architect (Eiji Okada) spend their last hours together debating memory and forgetfulness. Filmmaker Resnais, working from a screenplay by Marguerite Duras, delivers a striking opening that ultimately stands as a high point within the proceedings, as Hiroshima mon amour kicks off with an odd yet compelling first act detailing the atom bomb’s horrific aftermath – with the impact of this stretch certainly heightened by Resnais’ often hypnotic visual sensibilities. It’s only as the movie segues into its narrative proper that one’s interest begins to wane, as Resnais delivers a meandering storyline almost entirely devoid of the emotional resonance he’s clearly aiming for – which, in turn, paves the way for a midsection that’s only fleetingly compelling and rife with meaningless musings (ie this stuff is rarely as profound as Resnais clearly believes it to be). And although both Riva and Okada are admittedly quite effective (and occasionally affecting) in their respective roles, Hiroshima mon amour is ultimately an arms-length bit of art-house filmmaking that’s aged rather poorly in the years since its 1959 release.

** out of ****

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