Alain Resnais

by Emma Wilson

Alain Resnais, director of Hiroshima Mon Amour and L'Année Derniere à Marienbad , has transformed the representation of memory, fantasy and desire in modern cinema. This illuminating new introduction to his work, extending from his earliest documentaries to the musical films of the last decade, traces the evolving patterns of his filmmaking, its changing reflections on mortality, guilt, chance and human doubt. Exploring questions of the time-image, of trauma, of the senses, this volume sets Resnais's films in the context of important current debates in film theory, and provides a concise account of critical discussions of his work in France and beyond.

240 pages, Hardcover

First published September 19, 2006

Reviews

[Kobita Banerjee · Rating 4 out of 5]

'What defines modern cinema is a movement backwards and forwards between words and images which must invent their own relation' -is also what defines the films of Resnais as per Emma Wilson and I am in complete agreement. However, moving backward and forward between the text and footnotes become cumbersome after a point, not so much perhaps for those who can read French.

[Danny · Rating 4 out of 5]

I stumbled upon this book in relation to studying Hiroshima mon amour, and my interest extended from there to the rest of it. It definitely requires that you have a certain interest for Resnais beforehand, but if you do, I think what Wilson does very well, especially compared to certain other books of this genre, is to illuminate some of the themes and keys that appear specifically in each film, while retaining an overall feel of the auteur. This is done by having each section - which is about a certain film - containing both macro and micro perspectives. As such, it is both thought-provoking and informative, and from a student point of view, invaluable.