Movie Review: Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959)

"Hiroshima Mon Amour" is a French film directed by Alain Resnais based on the screenplay by Marguerite Duras.  The film follows the one night stand of a French actress(Emmanuelle Riva) and a Japanese architect(Eiji Okada) that blossoms in what appears to the characters as love.  The film follows the two characters in their final day together as the actress must leave for Paris in the morning.

I will start off this review with what I enjoyed from the film.  The visuals were stunning.  The beginning alone had some of the most haunting imagery as we were brought back to Hiroshima just after the atomic bomb was dropped.  You are able to look back and see the destruction that was caused and really see why nuclear war should never be a thing.  The director did a superb job of showing the deformities, hair loss, damage to food supply and death.  The actress is recounts the events while the architect constantly reminding her, "You saw nothing in Hiroshima."

This movie will never let you forget that it takes place in Hiroshima.  You are repeatedly beat over the head with the fact that this is where the movie takes place.  Well, other than Nevers, France.  The two characters constantly remind each other where the other is from.

And what of these characters?  You get to hear plenty of backstory from where they want to tell the other.  We hear very little about their spouses.  We are just reminded that one night together was so wonderful, that it's painful to be apart from each other.  We spend ninety minutes of the architect attempting to convince the actress to stay with him in Hiroshima(even though his wife will be there in 3 days).  The actress spends ninety minutes trying to push him away despite the fact he'll listen to her stories from her youth.  Well, he listens until she gets too emotional and then slaps her a couple times.  The bartender and patrons raise their eyebrows to see what was going on but the actress seemed very approving of the smacks across her face and everyone went about their business.

I received this movie in the Boxwalla subscription box and you can read my reviews for the boxes themselves at HelloSubscription.  This wasn't my favorite film that I've received but at ninety minutes, it was worth checking out.