Nominees: Apur Sansar, Nazarin, North by Northwest, Anatomy of a Murder, The 400 Blows, Floating Weeds, Some Like it Hot, Rio Bravo, Room at the Top, Fires on the Plain, The Human Condition pts I & II
Oscars pick: Ben-Hur
Nominees: Anatomy of a Murder, Diary of Anne Frank, The Nuns Story, Room at the Top
When I was a teenager, Jaws was my favorite movie, my first favorite movie as a matter of fact (before then I'd never really thought about ranking such things), as I moved into adulthood, it became On the Waterfront, and in my old age? Well, I've come to see that I have more than one; but if you ask, I'd answer that Hiroshima Mon Amour is my favorite of the here and now.
An innovative and vital piece of the French New Wave (Left Bank contingent), it centers on an intense affair between a Japanese architect (Eiji Okada) and a French actress (Emmanuelle Riva). The two spend the day getting to know one another and working through (mostly her) personal demons. The brilliant opening sequence establishes the visual, audial, and thematic motifs - focusing primarily on the nature of memory, as the woman recalls things she couldn't have seen firsthand in regard to Hiroshima, the difference between being there and having it told to you is relayed through the jarring juxtaposition of movie versions of bombing victims to disturbing footage of the real thing. (Seeing the lovers covered in ash at the beginning, was another startling image).
Language-wise... there’s a lyrical quality to writer Marguerite Duras' dialogue, a thread of musicality woven throughout. But it’s not like the nature-born poetry of Ray’s Pather Panchali. It's more exacting, structured - but beautiful none the less. I also find it interesting the way characters can shift from 1st to 3rd person narratives or even take on the personality of another character from a different place and time (as when the Japanese channels the persona of the woman's German lover). The screenplay earned Duras a well-deserved Oscar nomination.
On the technical side of things, I admired the work of its dual cinematographers - Michio Takahashi in Japan and Sacha Vierny for the French locations. Each used different lenses and lighting techniques and such, which lends a distinct look to each time frame. The score, provided by Georges Delerue and Giovanni Fusco, is a mix of the somber and the off kilter - it too reenforces the concept (the scene where Elle splashes her face in the sink; it’s the music that tells us that she’s suddenly back in Nevers). The editing - the matching of hands, bodies, and landscapes, from past and present is expertly done, and again, is another element that sells the idea of time merging.
Acting? While Eiji is rock solid as Lui (him), the persistent male lead, the feature rests on Riva's capable shoulders. She gives a haunting performance in her film debut. When we first see her playful smile at the start, you can see how a man could instantly be drawn to her. But later a shadow falls over her face, and when she stares off into space it's as if she were stuck simultaneously in both the 'then', and the 'now' - which is just what the director and writer wanted. It's astonishing work, and her scenes hit me hard, shook me up (the moments set in Nevers are devastating).
While I’ve heard that some folks consider the film detached/cold on a first viewing, that was not the case for me, as it instantly got under my skin. I had such a powerful emotional and intellectual reaction to this movie... you could say its exploration of memories that linger, and those that slip away -of the traumas of war; of love destroyed, and the scars left on a soul- stole the breath from my lungs.
Note: Like Tarkovsky’s horses or Fassbinder’s mirrors, one of Resnais’ visual trademarks is the zeroing in on hands. Even where they are not in close-up, they might be doing something interesting… as when the woman tells the man the story of the German and her hand curls and shakes subtly. Or when she draws her hands away from the man and her fingers briefly move as if she were pressing the keys of a piano.
Other movies I liked: Fires on the Plain, Ballad of a Soldier, Ride Lonesome, Kiku and Isamu, Pickpocket, Kaagaz Ke Phool, Odds Against Tomorrow, Violent Summer, Sleeping Beauty and more. 1959 offered up a lot of treasures.
Honorable Mentions: Ganjiro Nakamura, Floating Weeds * Laurence Harvey, Room at the Top * Tony Curtis & Jack Lemmon, Some Like it Hot * Cary Grant, North by Northwest * James Stewart, Anatomy of a Murder * John Wayne, Rio Bravo * Vittorio De Sica, General Della Rovere * Eiji Funakoshi, Fires on the Plain
Supporting Actor: Joseph Schildkraut, The Diary of Anne Frank
Honorable Mentions:
Machiko Kyo, Floating Weeds & Odd Obsession * Audrey Hepburn, The Nun’s Story * Marilyn Monroe, Some Like it Hot * Simone Signoret, Room at the Top * Lucyna Winnicka, Night Train * Juanita Moore & Susan Kohner, Imitation of Life
Supporting Actress: Zhanna Prokhorenko, Ballad of a Soldier (left)
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