Six Films (Directed) by Alain Resnais
 For American audiences, Alain Resnais (1922-) is a canonical French auteur. But Resnais himself has categorically denied the label, and indeed was a somewhat reluctant director: He got his start as an editor for the influential French producer Pierre Braunberger and only took up direction under extreme pressure from the latter. Throughout his career, Resnais insisted on giving equal credit to his screenwriters, actors and crews, and always refused the credit, "A Film by Alain Resnais." More than five decades of collaborative filmmaking have led to a remarkably diverse body of work, which we will showcase this winter with four programs of films (not entirely) by Alain Resnais. Series sponsored by the French Ministry of Cultural Affairs. Special thanks to Diane Eberhardt and Delphine Selles.
Friday, December 5, 7:30 p.m.
Art/History: Selected Documentary Shorts
Guernica
France, 1950, 35mm, b/w, 13 min.
Directed by Alain Resnais and Robert Hessens
Resnais and Hessens analyze and celebrate Picasso's masterpiece. "The freedom that Resnais has allowed himself preserves the ambiguity, the polyvalence characteristic of all truly creative works, but also ... is the best critic of the original." ~ André Bazin
Les statues meurent aussi
France, 1953, 35mm, b/w, 30 min.
Directed by Alain Resnais and Chris Marker
Censored for 8 years in France because of its anti-Colonialist message, Les statues meurent aussi (co-directed by Chris Marker) pointedly asks why African art resides in the anthropological Musée de l'Homme while Greek art resides in the Louvre.
Night and Fog (Nuit et Brouillard)
France, 1955, 35mm, color and b/w, 30 min.
Directed by Alain Resnais
Made at the 10th anniversary of the Liberation, Night and Fog alternates black-and-white archival imagery with poetic color footage of the ruins of Auschwitz and Maïdanek. Resnais's first masterpiece raises questions of historical memory, human brutality, and ultimate culpability.
Back to top
|  |
 |
|
Friday, December 11, 7:30 p.m.
Last Year at Marienbad (L'année dernière à Marienbad)
France/Italy, 1961, 35mm, b/w, 94 min.
In French with English subtitles
Directed by Alain Resnais
With Delphine Seyrig, Giorgio Albertazzi, Sacha Pitoëff
No plot description can do Robbe-Grillet's script justice: "X" (a man) tries to convince "A" (a woman) that they had an affair last year at Marienbad, all under the watchful gaze of "M" (certainly a man and possibly A's husband or lover). Perhaps the canonical example of art cinema narration, Resnais's film is also, according to Roger Ebert, either "silly or profound," but without a doubt "voluptuous," "hypnotic" and brimming with "austere visual beauty."
Back to top
|  |
Saturday, December 12, 7:30 p.m.
Mon oncle d'Amérique
France, 1980, 35mm, color, 125 min.
In French with English subtitles
Directed by Alain Resnais
With Gérard Depardieu, Nicole Garcia, Roger Pierre
Real-life French physician and researcher Dr. Henri Laborit demonstrates his theories about human psychology and behavior with 3 hypothetical "case studies" enacted by Depardieu, Garcia, and Pierre—and a small army of lab rats. It might sound dry, but in fact, Mon oncle d'Amérique is more properly described as a gentle comedy, one that Vincent Canby called "immensely good-humored and witty." Winner of the 1980 Grand Prize of the Jury at Cannes (with a unanimous vote, to boot).
Back to top
|  |
Saturday, December 19, 7:30 p.m.
On connaît la chanson
(Same Old Song)
France, 1997, 35mm, color, 120 min.
In French with English subtitles
Directed by Alain Resnais
With Pierre Arditi, Jean-Pierre Bacri, Sabine Azéma
Resnais's first international blockbuster is a musical comedy about life, love and Parisian real estate that features snippets from more than 30 hit songs. Its characters seamlessly transition from speaking in the voices of the actors portraying them to singing in the voices of major French entertainers, from Edith Piaf and Maurice Chevalier to Johnny Hallyday and Serge Gainsbourg. "Audacious, delightful and just about perfect from first note to last" (Variety, 1997).
Back to top
|  |
|
| |
|
