Hiroshima Mon Amour

Details

Elle (Emmanuelle Riva) is staying in Hiroshima for a few days to shoot an anti-war film in which she is to play a nurse. Whilst in the city, she meets Lui (Eiji Okada) with whom she has a one-night stand. The intimacy of their fleetingly intense encounter causes them to reflect upon the city's painful history and their own memories of love and suffering. As Elle recalls the tragedy of her forbidden love for a German soldier, lost during the final days of the Second World War, she and Lui become inextricably bound by their feelings for each other, their mutual experiences drawing them ever closer together.

Hiroshima Mon Amour was originally envisioned as a documentary examining the impact of the atomic explosion on the collective consciousness of the Japanese. However, Resnais was moved to tell a fictional story after discussing various ideas with acclaimed novelist Marguerite Duras, who eventually produced the film's Academy Award nominated screenplay.

Atmospherically shot on location in Hiroshima, Japan and Nevers, France by cinematographer Sacha Vierny (Belle de Jour), the film is perhaps most notable for its pioneering use of jump cuts to and from flashbacks to indicate characters' memories. In addition to haunting performances by both Emmanuelle Riva (Three Colours: Blue) and Eiji Okada (The Yakuza), the film features an evocative and poignant score by Academy Award winning composer Georges Delerue.

Hiroshima Mon Amour deservedly won both the FIRPRESCI Award and the Film Writers Award at the 1959 Cannes Film Festival and so impressed future French New Wave directors Eric Rohmer, Jean-Luc Godard, Jacques Rivette and other members of the Cahiers du Cinema editorial board, they convened a special round table to discuss the film's merits.

Hiroshima Mon Amour will be released on DVD by Nouveaux Pictures on 28th February 2005.