L'année dernière à Marienbad (Last Year at Marienbad) (1961)

95% of critics liked it
(42 reviews)
86% of users liked it
(6,392 ratings)

A cinematic puzzle, Alain Resnais' Last Year at Marienbad is a radical exploration of the formal possibilities of film. Beautifully shot in Cinemascope by Sacha Vierny, the movie is a riddle of seduction, a mercurial enigma darting between a present and past which may not even exist, let alone… More A cinematic puzzle, Alain Resnais' Last Year at Marienbad is a radical exploration of the formal possibilities of film. Beautifully shot in Cinemascope by Sacha Vierny, the movie is a riddle of seduction, a mercurial enigma darting between a present and past which may not even exist, let alone converge. The film stars Giorgio Albertazzi as an unnamed sophisticate attempting to convince a similarly nameless woman (Delphine Seyrig) that they met and were romantically involved a year ago in the same enormous, baroque European hotel. In the end, it hardly matters -- they're not characters so much as pawns anyway. Hypnotically dreamlike, Last Year at Marienbad is a surrealist parody of Hollywood melodrama, a high-fashion romance with a dark, alien underbelly. According to screenwriter Alain Robbe-Grillet, the movie is a pure construction, without a frame of reference outside of its own existence -- the lives of its characters begin when the lights go down, and conclude when they come back up. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 33 min.
Directed By: Alain Resnais
Written By: Alain Robbe-Grillet
Genres: Science Fiction & Fantasy, Special Interest

In Theaters: Jun 25, 1961 Wide
On DVD: Feb 23, 1999

Critic Reviews

Sid Smith, Chicago Tribune
To even talk of a story is nonsensical, since a central aesthetic of the film involves the effects of fantasy, time and subjective memory on human consciousness. Marienbad takes place in a heightened, sci-fi nightmare world where knowing, believing
Mark Feeney, Boston Globe
Marienbad is elegantly hermetic, a ravishing waxworks that has stillness at its heart.
Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times
Remains one of cinema's glorious enigmas, endlessly compelling and intriguing.
J. Hoberman, Village Voice
The movie is what it is -- a sustained mood, an empty allegory, a choreographed moment outside of time, and a shocking intimation of perfection.
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
The film's dreamlike cadences, frozen tableaux, and distilled surrealist poetry are too eerie, too terrifying even, to be shaken off as camp. For all its notoriety, this masterpiece among masterpieces has never really received its due.
Bosley Crowther, New York Times
Be prepared for an experience such as you've never had from watching a film when you sit down to look at Alain Resnais' Last Year at Marienbad, a truly extraordinary French film.
Budd Wilkins, Slant Magazine
The poster child of cinematic modernism, one of those early-'60s event films that seemed to break every rule classical Hollywood ever codified.
Jason Solomons, Observer [UK]
I've always found it romantic and sexy, full of yearning and mystery.
Derek Malcolm, This is London
Was there ever a film thought so boring by so many yet accorded the status of a classic?
Peter Bradshaw, Guardian [UK]
Profoundly mysterious and disturbing, a para-surrealist masterpiece whose nightmarish scenario appears to have been absorbed from Buñuel and Antonioni and transmitted onward to Greenaway.
Anton Bitel, Little White Lies
an enigmatic mind-melt that sends characters and viewers alike on a chronology-confounding loop down labyrinthine corridors and up garden paths in pursuit of a (re)solution that, even after it has been found, remains elusive and ambiguous.
David Parkinson, Radio Times
A veritable masterpiece, but beware, this icon of French New Wave cinema is as likely to irritate as it is to mesmerise.
Philip Kemp, Total Film
A sublime meditation on memory, perception and fantasy - or art-house pretension at its emptiest? The jury's still out...
Aaron Hillis, GreenCine
An incontestably iconic and beautiful curiosity that simply hasn't held up as the masterpiece it's gushed to be.
Christopher Long, Movie Metropolis
Its one of the greatest films ever made, and an experience unrivaled in cinema.
James Kendrick, Q Network Film Desk
the elegant tracking shots amid the baroque architectural excesses that frame the film's lingering questions draw you into a world of mystery that seems to be ultimately understandable, yet constantly unravels at every turn
Sean Axmaker, Turner Classic Movies Online
... a tantalizing mystery and a work of cinema as intricately faceted as a jewel.
Peter Canavese, Groucho Reviews
Gorgeous and elliptical...also became [for some] an instant subject of derision as a prototype for the impenetrable European art film.
Eric Henderson, Slant Magazine
Just lay back. This is going to happen.
Eric Henderson, Slant Magazine
The recurring attitude throughout most interpretations of Marienbad is that of sheer interpretation fatigue.

Read all 21 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Dan S

An intriguing, stylistic, but plodding picture concerning anonymous figures, one of which being an aggressive male trying convince a beautiful female that the two of them had an affair a year ago that day. The film has tons of style and gets tricky with the camera, especially near the… More
An intriguing, stylistic, but plodding picture concerning anonymous figures, one of which being an aggressive male trying convince a beautiful female that the two of them had an affair a year ago that day. The film has tons of style and gets tricky with the camera, especially near the conclusion, but this is literally one of the longest movies I felt I have seen - and it is only 93 minutes long! Sure, the acting is good, and this is pretty good melodrama, but it is a film that refuses to tie up any loose ends, and as a result, feels disappointing. Ambiguous endings are great when done correctly, sadly this film misses out.
AJ V

I saw this movie for a class, but I didn't watch the entire film because it's so slow and boring, but it is actually pretty atmospheric most of the time. Overall, it's okay, not great, but not bad either.
Robert C

If you go into this film thinking of it more as a poem about someone's memory of an "affair" (love / obsession / lust) that has been pulled from their mind in the (slightly disconbobulated) manner that one tends to rememebr things of that nature, I think you're in… More
If you go into this film thinking of it more as a poem about someone's memory of an "affair" (love / obsession / lust) that has been pulled from their mind in the (slightly disconbobulated) manner that one tends to rememebr things of that nature, I think you're in for a treat. Included in this poetic revisting of an "affair" that may or may not have actually happened (at least not in a physical sense) is the realization that our memories of such things are so often tainted by our tendency to make them so much more (beautiful/painful) then they may have actually been. The overly romantic heart is a very powerful thing and can often wrestle our more practical minds into submission when love/lust/passion is a key element. I think the reason why so many people have issues with this film is probably because of the fact that it is so beautifully shot and so much thought is given to all of the lush visuals that our minds immediately go into a traditional "epic romance" mode, when in fact "abstract poetry" mode is what is required as there is NOTHING traditional about this film. I also really enjoyed the sense of Deja vu that is given from the revisiting of the memories of "last year" and how they are ever so slightly changed each time we witness the memory. But I can see how this could really put some people off. So if you are open to a beautiful but quirky and abstract telling of a romance that may or may not have happend....you are in for a treat.
Ken S

Beautifully shot and mind numbingly pretentious, this piece of film art is worth seeing for it's stylistic influences alone. An obvious influence on Kubrick's the Shining. The multiple time lines and non linear story telling style may infuriate some viewers.
Michael G

An amazing looking film that makes you feel like you're drunk.
Chris B

Dreamlike in every sense of the word the film is more style and wonderful cinematography than cohesive plot. This isn't to say that there isnt a plot or its a shallow one, but a film that can't be easily deconstructed. The techniques used in filming are inspiring and… More
Dreamlike in every sense of the word the film is more style and wonderful cinematography than cohesive plot. This isn't to say that there isnt a plot or its a shallow one, but a film that can't be easily deconstructed. The techniques used in filming are inspiring and continue to be an example today. This really is a visual and atmoshpheric film that keeps your eyes glued to the screen. Highly Recommended!
Quinto W

There's very little in terms of plot development, but that doesn't make this film any less haunting. What's so engaging about it (besides a stunning cinematography and a fantastic score) is the way the story and the visuals play with our mind - the aacurate way it… More
There's very little in terms of plot development, but that doesn't make this film any less haunting. What's so engaging about it (besides a stunning cinematography and a fantastic score) is the way the story and the visuals play with our mind - the aacurate way it depicts how dreamlike and vague memory can be.
MJS M

This is a movie with a very creative and haunting visual style and it has a narrative filled with interesting ideas. That should be a perfect mix, but unfortunately I it felt to me like the creative visuals didn?t really compliment the creative story all that well and vice versa. Of… More
This is a movie with a very creative and haunting visual style and it has a narrative filled with interesting ideas. That should be a perfect mix, but unfortunately I it felt to me like the creative visuals didn?t really compliment the creative story all that well and vice versa. Of the two elements I probably liked the visuals better, the way Resnais films the hotel this takes place in a beautiful and haunting, I have a hunch that this was an inspiration for the way Kubrick filmed The Shining. However, I?m not sure that this slow, sterile, and artful style was really a good choice to convey the talky, passionate, and emotional story at the center of it all. The whole thing was generally very slow, I got an Antonioni vibe from the whole thing and that is not a compliment.
Emily B

Simply a masterpiece. A simple plot of a man trying to convince a woman that they had an affair the previous year, yet still a complex puzzle which will take more than one viewing to fully undertand. The black and white cinematography is beautiful. The tracking shots through the… More
Simply a masterpiece. A simple plot of a man trying to convince a woman that they had an affair the previous year, yet still a complex puzzle which will take more than one viewing to fully undertand. The black and white cinematography is beautiful. The tracking shots through the corridors of the baroque hotel are also sublime. A truly unique experience.
Linda K

You would most likely hate this film or just not understand a thing of this film. But you could admire the cinematography which is fabulous. Before seeing the film, you should be aware that it is crazier than David Lynch's films. It is nothing that anyone could expect.

Read all 10 featured audience ratings

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