(aka "L'Année dernière à Marienbad" or "L'Anno scorso a Marienbad" or "Last Year in Marienbad")
directed by Alain Resnais
France 1961
"Last Year at Marienbad" is infuriating for those who do not conform and accept its enigmatic, static beauty. Director Resnais' intentional confusion adds to the poetic mystery with stilted camera angles of emotionless, well-kempt opulence shown in soft, black and white, contrasting stills. Much of the framing is matted behind architecture and magnificent landscapes. Yes, you must accept this beauty as well as the flowery narration when watching to overcome any 'excessive-artsy' countenance hidden beneath your frustrated surface. If you do, you are rewarded with an extremely memorable experience - one that can stay with you for years. If you garner nothing else from the film, this persistence of memory should not fade - like all great art. That alone is a laudable triumph of cinema.
Posters
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Theatrical Release: June 25th, 1961 - France
Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews
DVD Comparison:
Fox / Lorber (Out Of Print) - Region 0 - NTSC vs. Optimum - Region 2 - PAL
Big thanks to Gary Tooze and Henrik Sylow for the Screen Caps!
(Fox / Lorber (Out Of Print) - Region 0 - NTSC - LEFT vs. Optimum - Region 2 - PAL - RIGHT)
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| Distribution |
Fox / Lorber Region 0 - NTSC |
Optimum Region 2 - PAL |
| Runtime | 1:29.33 | 1:30:00 (4% PAL speedup) |
| Video |
2.35:1 Original Aspect Ratio |
2.35:1 Original Aspect Ratio
16X9 enhanced
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NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes. |
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Bitrate:
Fox / Lorber (Out Of Print)
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Bitrate:
Optimum
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| Audio | 2.0 Dolby Digital French |
2.0 Dolby Digital French |
| Subtitles | English, None | English (fixed) |
| Features |
Release
Information: Studio: Fox / Lorber Aspect
Ratio:
Edition
Details:
Chapters 9 |
Release
Information: Studio: Optimum Aspect
Ratio:
Edition
Details:
DVD Release Date:
May 23, 2005 Chapters 17 |
| Comments |
Optimum Besides minute colour banding, the image is flawless. Deep solid blacks, good contrast, good details. Simply a superb anamorphic image. Two things are interesting versus Fox Lorber. One is, that as Optimum is PAL and as such has 4% PAL Speed-Up, Fox Lorber's approx equal duration suggests that it is a PAL to NTSC transfer. The other is that the Fox Lorber has approx 3% more image to the left, while Optimum has approx 3% more image to the right. While Optimums subtitles are fixed, which always is a point of criticism, they are a pleasure to read. The translation is also different, here saying: "In a few moments, it will freeze into a marble past. Like the statues in this garden of stone." Not speaking French, I am unable to determine, which is the most accurate translation. The additional material begin with a good and informative introduction by Professor Ginette Vincendeau, sitting in a cinema and talking about the films history and its interpretation. Following this is the documentary "Dans le Labyrinthe de Marienbad" by French critic Luc Lagier, who discusses the films history, the collaboration between Renais and Robbe-Grillet, its structure, various interpretations and finally its legacy. The last extra is the rare "Toute la Mémoire du Monde", a short film by Renais from 1956, a documentary about Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, where Renais portraits the building, with its processes of cataloguing and preserving all sorts of printed material, as both a monument of cultural memory and as a monstrous alien being. Henrik Sylow |
DVD Menus
(Fox / Lorber (Out
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- Region 2 - PAL - RIGHT)
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Screen Captures
(Fox / Lorber (Out
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subtitle sample (English only)
PAL captures resized to 720px from 1016px native
resolution
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(Fox / Lorber (Out Of Print) - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP vs. Optimum - Region 2 - PAL - BOTTOM)
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(Fox / Lorber (Out Of Print) - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP vs. Optimum - Region 2 - PAL - BOTTOM)
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(Fox / Lorber (Out Of Print) - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP vs. Optimum - Region 2 - PAL - BOTTOM)
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(Fox / Lorber (Out Of Print) - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP vs. Optimum - Region 2 - PAL - BOTTOM)
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(Fox / Lorber (Out Of Print) - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP vs. Optimum - Region 2 - PAL - BOTTOM)
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(Fox / Lorber (Out Of Print) - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP vs. Optimum - Region 2 - PAL - BOTTOM)
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Recommended Reading in French Cinema (CLICK COVERS or TITLES for more information)
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The Films in My Life |
French Cinema: A Student's Guide by Philip Powrie, Keith Reader |
Agnes Varda by Alison Smith | Godard on Godard : Critical Writings by Jean-Luc Godard | Notes on the Cinematographer by Robert Bresson | The Art of Cinema by Jean Cocteau |
French New Wave
by Jean Douchet, Robert Bonnono, Cedric Anger, Robert Bononno |
French Cinema: From Its Beginnings to the Present by Remi Fournier Lanzoni |
Check out more in "The Library"
| DVD Box Covers |
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| Distribution |
Fox / Lorber Region 0 - NTSC |
Optimum Region 2 - PAL |
Report Card:
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Image: |
Optimum |
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tie |
| Extras: | Optimum |
| Menu: | Optimum |
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Region 0 - NTSC vs. Optimum - Region 2 - PAL Alain Resnais Last Year in Marienbad DVD Review Alain Resnais Last Year in Marienbad DVD Review Alain Resnais Last Year in Marienbad DVD Review Alain Resnais Last Year in Marienbad DVD Review Alain Resnais Last Year in Marienbad DVD Review Alain Resnais Last Year in Marienbad DVD Review Alain Resnais Last Year in Marienbad DVD Review Alain Resnais Last Year in Marienbad DVD Review Alain Resnais Last Year in Marienbad DVD Review Alain Resnais Last Year in Marienbad DVD Review Alain Resnais Last Year in Marienbad Fox / Lorber (Out Of Print) - Region 0 - NTSC vs. Optimum - Region 2 - PAL Alain Resnais Last Year in Marienbad DVD Review Alain Resnais Last Year in Marienbad DVD Review Alain Resnais Last Year in Marienbad DVD Review Alain Resnais Last Year in Marienbad DVD Review Alain Resnais Last Year in Marienbad DVD Review Alain Resnais Last Year in Marienbad DVD Review Alain Resnais Last Year in Marienbad DVD Review Alain Resnais Last Year in Marienbad DVD Review Alain Resnais Last Year in Marienbad DVD Review Alain Resnais Last Year in Marienbad DVD Review Alain Resnais Last Year in Marienbad Fox / Lorber (Out Of Print) - 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