How intriguing to meet a male character who listens so intently to a female! Yet, Lui (Eiji Okada) also wants to deny the musings of Elle (Emmanuelle Riva) about atomic devastation to his hometown, Hiroshima.
I haven't seen a male character so curious about a woman's ruminations/madness since "El amor brujo" of 1986. (If only life would mimic film in this way!)
Here we encounter the shocking aftermath of the atomic bombing -- in documentary film clips, human carnage shocking to view. We also see evidence of a clean-up, in tour guides navigating a sanitized war zone.
But devastating memories dominate the present day.
We see this in the reminiscences of Elle, who lived through Nazi occupation of her hometown of Nevers. For having a German-soldier lover -- shot dead on the day of liberation -- she's thrown by her parents into the cellar, penalty for comforting the enemy.
An oddity in this Hiroshima-based film is the use of French. Lui speaks it fluently, ostensibly because he;d wanted to study the French Revolution. Yet, during a protest rally, marchers carry anti-bomb placards in French! (Did director Alain Renais doubt that viewers would tolerate subtitles?)
For a sign of how far we have evolved, see the movie poster for this film -- Okada isn't even mentioned!
I'm glad I saw this icon of the French New Wave, but it would have benefited from editing. Elle's musings about life in the cellar drag on for too long. Still, one admires her depth.
I haven't seen a male character so curious about a woman's ruminations/madness since "El amor brujo" of 1986. (If only life would mimic film in this way!)
Here we encounter the shocking aftermath of the atomic bombing -- in documentary film clips, human carnage shocking to view. We also see evidence of a clean-up, in tour guides navigating a sanitized war zone.
But devastating memories dominate the present day.
We see this in the reminiscences of Elle, who lived through Nazi occupation of her hometown of Nevers. For having a German-soldier lover -- shot dead on the day of liberation -- she's thrown by her parents into the cellar, penalty for comforting the enemy.
An oddity in this Hiroshima-based film is the use of French. Lui speaks it fluently, ostensibly because he;d wanted to study the French Revolution. Yet, during a protest rally, marchers carry anti-bomb placards in French! (Did director Alain Renais doubt that viewers would tolerate subtitles?)
For a sign of how far we have evolved, see the movie poster for this film -- Okada isn't even mentioned!
I'm glad I saw this icon of the French New Wave, but it would have benefited from editing. Elle's musings about life in the cellar drag on for too long. Still, one admires her depth.