“Hiroshima Mon Amour” (1959) opens Friday, Oct. 17, at the following Laemmle Theaters:
• The Royal, 11523 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles
• Playhouse 7, 673 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena
• Town Center 5, 17200 Ventura Blvd., Encino
Weekend showtimes are 10:45 a.m. (except at The Royal), 1 p.m., 3:20 p.m., 5:40 p.m., 8 p.m. and 10:15 p.m.
“Hiroshima Mon Amour” is the late Alain Resnais’ seminal debut film. A pillar of the French New Wave, long unavailable for exhibition in the U.S. due to rights issues (it has even been left out of touring Resnais retrospectives in recent years), it will be released nationally by Rialto Pictures in a spectacular new restoration.
Employing a radical use of voice-over narration and quickly flashbacked scenes, “Hiroshima Mon Amour” tells the story of a brief relationship in post-war Japan between a French actress, played by Oscar nominee Emmanuelle Riva (“Amour”), and a Japanese architect, played by Eiji Okada (“Woman in the Dunes”).
The Oscar-nominated screenplay was written by Marguerite Duras, who in novels like “The Lover” often dealt with European/Asian relationships. This year marks Duras’ centennial.
A worldwide art house sensation when first released, and widely considered one of the most beautiful and influential movies ever made, “Hiroshima Mon Amour” was awarded the International Critics’ prize at the 1959 Cannes Film Festival. Due to its harrowing anti-nuclear stance, it was kept out of the main competition to avoid offending the U.S.
It returned to Cannes last year in this new restoration. Director Resnais died this past March 1 at age 91.
“Hiroshima Mon Amour” has been restored by Argos Films, Fondation Groupama Gan, Fondation Technicolor, and Cineteca Bologna, with support from CNC.
The 92-minute film is not rated.
For more information, call (310) 478-3836 or visit http://laemmle.com.