In yet another programming coup, Enzian Theater shows Last Year at Marienbad as this week’s Saturday Matinee Classic, but fair warning: You might need to drink an extra espresso that morning to get prepared.
Alain Resnais’ French New Wave classic tells the story of a couple (maybe?) who encounter each other again (maybe?) at the hotel where they first met (maybe?). We won’t snow you: This is one of those films that requires a little brainwork. In the liner notes for its DVD reissue, Criterion says, “Alain Resnais’ epochal Last Year at Marienbad (L’année dernière à Marienbad) has been puzzling appreciative viewers for decades”; Enzian itself calls it “one of the great, lasting mysteries of modern art.” So yeah, Drop Dead Gorgeous this isn’t.
But it is one of the most gorgeous films ever made, and on a big screen, it should be positively dazzling. If you aren’t up to winkling out the deep meaning of the plot, just revel in the glittering sets, the dazzling gardens and the haunted face of Delphine Seyrig in the gloriously silvery black-and-white of this new 4K restoration.
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