Both Ends of the Spectrum: 'Last Years at Marienbad'

By David Eng 

            The film I will be reviewing this week will be a movie that is certainly not for everyone. My friends and I had to watch this movie for an assignment and while they did not like it, I loved it. This movie is called Last Year at Marienbad. This movie is a bit of a rough one and I certainly would not recommend this movie. If you do not believe me then watch it and judge it for yourself, but a lot of the plot is ambiguous and unanswered. This is part of the film of course, but nonetheless, not many people enjoy this style of film. The film is also colorless and the audio quality is not at top quality. This is because the movie is a bit dated due to the fact it was made in 1962. I try not to cover movies made this long ago, but this movie is special in its unique way.

            The film is directed by Alain Resnais, who is a French director. The movie proves this due to its rather avant-garde styling. The movie is framed in this odd and surreal way that is hard to explain. There are shots that pan over and end in these long hallways or on an unsettling statue. These make the viewers uncomfortable which I would imagine in the effect that Resnais was trying to achieve. The whole movie takes place in this enormous estate in which there appears to be a formal party. The party does not end throughout the movie which adds to the oddity because there are many scenes that happen which would normally imply that time jump would happen. The movie ignores these queues and continues on its own strange realm of reality. This strange realm that the movie resides in truly makes the movie something worth watching. Interpreting the ambiguity of the movie and the strangeness that it houses is the exact reason why someone would want to watch this movie. As backwards as this may sound, this is also the reason why this movie would be a movie to stay away from. Despite trying to decipher exactly what the plot is or what it is trying to say, many conclusions can be reached. This uncomfortable mixture of unusual cinematography combined with the lack of an extremely coherent story can make this movie a big turn off. To put it in the eloquent words of my friend, he says, “It fucks my head. I don’t know if I'm a fan”.

            The movie clearly is not for everyone, but is honestly one of the most intriguing films I have seen in my life. Everything about this film is crazy and despite its slow pacing, I found myself grasping my head in anticipation and disbelief is certain parts. On a personal and biased scale, this movie gets a 9/10 from me, but on an objective and scale of recommendation, I give this film a 5/10. It is the kind of film where you either love it for its uniqueness, or hate it for the exact reasons why people like it.