Hiroshima mon amour (1959)

Director:

Alain Resnais

Writer:

Marguerite Duras (writer)

Release Date:

16 May 1960 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance | War

Plot:

1959. A French young woman has spent the night with a japanese man, at Hiroshima where she went for the shooting of a film about peace...

Plot Keywords:

Love | Memory | Cult Movie | Hiroshima Japan | Flashback

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 3 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Emmanuelle Riva	...	Elle
Eiji Okada	...	Lui
Stella Dassas	...	Mother
Pierre Barbaud	...	Father
Bernard Fresson	...	German Lover

Directed by
Alain Resnais

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Marguerite Duras		writer

Produced by
Anatole Dauman	....	producer
Samy Halfon	....	producer

Original Music by
Georges Delerue
Giovanni Fusco

Cinematography by
Michio Takahashi		(Japan) (as Takahashi Michio)
Sacha Vierny		(France)

Film Editing by
Jasmine Chasney
Henri Colpi
Anne Sarraute

Production Design by
Minoru Esaka		(as Esaka)
Mayo
Petri
Lucilla Mussini		(uncredited)

Costume Design by
Gerard Collery

Makeup Department
Alexandre Marcus	....	key makeup artist (as A. Marcus)
Elaine Marcus	....	hair stylist (as Eliane Marcus)

Production Management
Sacha Kamenka	....	production manager
Takeo Shirakawa	....	production manager (as Shirakawa Takeo)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
T. Andrefouet	....	assistant director
R. Guyonne	....	assistant director
Hara	....	assistant director
Itoi	....	assistant director
J.P. Leon	....	assistant director
I. Shirai	....	assistant director

Art Department
Miyakuni	....	assistant set decorator

Sound Department
Pierre-Louis Calvet	....	sound engineer (as P. Calvet)
René Renault	....	sound engineer (as R. Renault)

Camera and Electrical Department
Jean Chiabaut	....	assistant camera (as J. Chiabaut)
Denys Clerval	....	assistant camera (as D. Clerval)
Ito	....	lighting technician
Goupil Watanabe	....	camera operator

Other crew
Sylvette Baudrot	....	script
Gérard Jarlot	....	literary consultant
Nicole Seyler	....	production secretary

Production Companies

• Argos Films
• Como Films
• Daiei Studios
• Pathé Entertainment

Distributors

• Cocinor (1959) (France) (theatrical)
• Zenith International Films (1960) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Criterion Collection, The (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2004-2006) (USA) (VHS)
• Reel Media International (2005-2006) (USA) (TV)
• KinoVista (2007) (Russia) (TV)
• Emerald (2008) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Future Film (2006) (Finland) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2007) (USA) (all media)
• Ripley's Home Video (2007) (Italy) (DVD)
• Sagres Filmes (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2007) (Australia) (DVD)

Also Known As:

24 - jikan no joji (Japan)
24 Hour Affair (Japan: English title)
Hiroshima, My Love (International: English title) (informal literal title)
Hiroshima, mon amour

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

France | Japan

Language:

French | Japanese | English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:PG | Portugal:M/12 (DVD rating) | Hungary:18 | South Korea:18 | Argentina:18 | Chile:18 | Finland:K-18 | Sweden:15 | Australia:PG | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Autun, Saône-et-Loire, France

Company:

Argos Films

Trivia:

This started life as a documentary about the nuclear bomb drop on Hiroshima until Alain Resnais decided to include fictional elements.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Elle leaves the hotel to go the set, she is wearing a nurse's uniform with a headscarf and carrying a black handbag. When Lui meets her on the set, she is now wearing a skirt and blouse and still has the headscarf. When they leave the set, the headscarf is left behind. When they get to Lui's house, she now has a white jacket.

Quotes:

Elle: Sometimes we have to avoid thinking about the problems life presents. Otherwhise we'd suffocate.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Hellcats (#3.9)" (1990)

Psychoanalysis in Cinema

As a follow up to his monumental documentary "Nuit et brouillard" (Night and Fog), Resnais continues in his war motif with a chilling and powerful statement on the post-modernist, post-war world. An incarnation of a Marguerite Duras screen-play, "Hiroshima mon amour" depicts the confusion surrounding an eracinated and war-stricken people.

Questioning the possibility of Mimesis--"Tu n'as rien vu à Hiroshima. Rien!" (You saw nothing in Hiroshima. Nothing!)-- Resnais rejects the notion of re-creation or imitation, conforming to the philosophies of Roland Barthes and Jacques Derrida and thus calling into question his own efforts in "Nuit et brouillard." At the same time, he adheres to the Aristotelian ideal that the purpose of Mimesis is the cathartic effect produced by pity and terror, and not merely the representation.

Appealing also to Freudian psychoanalysis, the characters are forced to re-examine the effects of the pathology in attempt to reconstruct the past and determine the cause. (Notice Resnais' use of lighting in the reconstruction scene.) Subtle clues throughout enable the viewer to piece together the story and perform their own psychoanalysis of the situation. A young woman from Nevers, France vows to "never" return to her hometown and the viewer is left to determine the cause.

In my opinion, one of the top ten films of all time, "Hiroshima mon amour" is a work of art that all lovers of cinema must see. Resnais is a cinematographic genius, and his ambivalent depiction of post-war Japan and France in the characters of "Him" and "Her" make this film a cultural landmark as well as masterpiece of post-war, post-modernist art.