Director
Alain Resnais
Leading Actors/Actresses
Emmanuelle Riva, Eiji Okada
Supporting Actors/Actresses
Stella Dassas, Pierre Barbaud
Genre
Drama, Romance
Language
French
Awards
Nominated for 1 Academy Award: Best Writing, Story and Screenplay-Written Directly for the Screen
Date of Release
1959
Producer
Anatole Dauman, Samy Halfon
Setting and Context
Japan 1959
Narrator and Point of View
POV is that of Elle and Lui
Tone and Mood
Dramatic, Romantic
Protagonist and Antagonist
Elle is the protagonist, while Lui is the antagonist.
Major Conflict
Elle is a French actress who has filmed a movie and met Lui. Their relationship was quickly romantic as they began an affair.
Climax
The couple breaks up after their brief affair burns out.
Foreshadowing
The opening scene foreshadows their relationship falling apart as the imagery represents the connection of their romance to Hiroshima through seeing the characters covered in what appears to be ash.
Understatement
It is understated that Lui's family was in Hiroshima the day of the bombing.
Innovations in Filming or Lighting or Camera Techniques
N/A
Allusions
The film alludes to memory and how we hold on to it in our lives, building monuments to suffering so that we will never forget.
Paradox
Lui falls for Elle who seems to be his dream girl; paradoxically, he doesn't want to be with her, as he has a life and a family elsewhere.
Parallelism
The opening scene with the transformation of Elle and Lui's skin parallels the effect upon the people of Hiroshima because of the bombing.
