MovieChat Forums > L'année dernière à Marienbad (1962) Discussion > Silly cinema for faux intellectuals

Silly cinema for faux intellectuals

posted 9 years ago by boydwalters-60323
8 replies | jump to latest

I saw this when I was a teenager and didn't know what the fuss was about and had a feeling it was pandering to people who like to think they are clever ... I watched it again last night, 40 years later as I thought maybe I was too young and had missed something ... I hadn't
Good Points ... Its quite nicely filmed, but how could you go wrong in such sumptuous surroundings ... Delphine Seyrig was an amazingly interesting and beautiful woman, although she hasn't reached her peak in this ... There are no more good points
The writing and direction are both stilted and heavy handed in their determination to be obtuse ... Their arrogance and self importance litterally drips off the screen ... Compare this to the films of Cocteau who was a true talent ... Unfortunately some films have always been bolstered by the faux intellectual bourgeoisie and this is one of the major players in that catagory ... It is of course complete and utter nonsense

[–] gavriloprinciple 9 years ago

Faux intellectual bourgeoisie, oh gimme a break! If that isn't "pretentious" blah blah, I don't know what is.

Self-importance, oh really? It is just a film. It is what it is. Only importance comes from the reflection that this film has had after it was made. The creators only tried to do something different, like make a film version of Alain Robbe-Grillet's prose. And by jove I think they succeeded in that. This is an amazing film. It doesn't mean the people who like it are amazing, they just, you know, might REALLY like it.

There are three films that I've watched the second time right after I saw them for the first time. One of them is The Terminator, the other is Hellbound and the third is Last Year at Marienbad. They are all great films, well, Hellbound kinda sucks but the rest, epic cinema! No need for dick measuring or insecurity debates. This is a beautiful film that tries something different. To me it is a success. Robbe-Grillet may have difficult way of saying his stuff, but he is really saying something. He sincerely wanted to challenge his readers. He had their best interests in his mind. They still tried to take their artform forward in those days.

And Godard is nothing compared to Resnais, in my books, at least. But that's just like, my opinion, man :)

One of the biggest problems of this film is that it really isn't part of that french new wave movement, even if it happened to be made at that time.

Very well, then. I shall say no more. Just... tinkerty-tonk!

[–] BlueeRain 9 years ago

Your post made me laugh. I keep thinking of the lady on Seinfeld that George broke up with for being pretentious. Then she ended up in the Psych Ward. Being you are a true intellectual you may not watch Seinfeld.

I see your point though.

[–] ShellOilJunior 8 years ago

Marienbad is the antithesis of pretentious. It's a completely subjective experience. The plot, the characters, the story - they require the full attention of an active, engaged viewer.

[–] The_TJT 8 years ago

Marienbad is the antithesis of pretentious

I disagree, and would argue that one's rating of this film is a good pretentiousness level meter...

It's a completely subjective experience

That it certainly is. Then again, isn't any film...

The plot, the characters, the story - they require the full attention of an active, engaged viewer.

The problem though is that most of the time it (story) doesn't... like for example the beginning droning on and on and on about same things (decoration etc)...

I had really hard time to get through the first half hour or so, but was sort of sucked into to the style and mystery towards the end. However, in the end the message is rather empty, minimal and purposefully mixed - if there even is one.

[–] ShellOilJunior 8 years ago

I recommend watching the film again. I've seen it 6 or 7 times and each I come away with a different read on it.

I say it's not pretentious and explain why and you merely say you disagree. That's not a valid rebuttal.

The film is subjective in as far as there is no discernible plot. It provides the reader with the bits and pieces and leaves it up to the viewer to make sense of it. That's not pretending to be anything. To me that's a sign of respect from the director and writer to the audience.

A recent film that's similar in this regard is Certified Copy. Not surprising that many that don't like that film have similar complaints.

Marienbad isn't for everyone but if you're willing to play its game there's a lot to like.

[–] Owlwise (1495) 4 years ago

I agree with you on both Marienbad and Certified Copy. Not films for everyone, to be sure, but deeply rewarding for viewers who are willing to give themselves over to them. They both credit their viewers with intelligence & imagination, refraining from spoon-feeding them pre-digested one-size-fits-all answers.

Personally, I've never found either film pretentious, whatever that overused word might mean to some posters. That, and faux-intellectual. Now those are one-size-fits-all responses! :)

[–] Ed (522) 4 years ago

I love this film. Very mesmerizing cinematography. One of my favorite New Wave efforts. It is unlike most anything else.

[–] Mr_Ectoplasma 8 years ago

Faux intellectualism around anything is annoying, but this movie on its own is gorgeous. It's too much of an enigma for me to not love it. I have no idea what it's really about, but it's unlike anything I've ever seen.