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The Movie: A 1959 film by Alain Resnais, "Hiroshima Mon Amour" is a beautifully told love story; while simple at its core, the film explores other issues of the time period and aspects of humanity, as well. The film focuses on a couple - the woman is a French actress (Emmanuelle Riva), who is staying in Hiroshima while filming a movie. She meets a Japanese architect named Lui (Eiji Okada) and, despite the fact that they both are married, they fall for one another, yet she cannot stay and leaves by car after they walk out of their hotel room. Still, their paths cross once again, and their romance continues. During a meeting in a riverside tea room, she opens up to him and talks about an event from her past - a love that she shared with a German soldier during her time in Nevers, France. He was killed in battle, and afterwards, the townspeople shaved her head and her parents locked her in a cellar for her involvement with him. The film has so many remarkable aspects to it. The performances, first off, are truly superb. Riva is wonderful and surprisingly good for a debut performance. Her choices, from subtle gestures to more deeply felt and passionate glances, convinced me that she has lived this life. She more than capably portrays a woman trying to escape the hurt of her memories of lost love. Okada is equally strong in his performance, with his sincere declarations of love for her convincing, as well. Although the two offer stellar performances, together they're remarkable. Screen couples today rarely portray love in such a delicate, heartfelt manner. The way these two people explore each others hearts, minds and bodies with wonder and joy is fascinating to view. Their performances are what keep this quiet (some have called it slow - I was so involved I was rather surprised when I realized it was almost over) film so remarkably involving. The look of the black and white film is also haunting and beautiful. The cinematography by Michio Takahashi and Sacha Vierny is simply dazzling; the look of the film is rich and textured, with stunning shadows, interesting details and inspired, marvelous compositions that add layers to the scene. The camera's perspective in many scenes of the film really added to the emotion and story. Overall, "Hiroshima Mon Amour" is a stunning tale of loss, love, remembering and trying to forget and move on. Its performances are haunting and subtle, its photography exquisite and classic and its dialogue intelligent and memorable. Hopefully, the film's fine new Criterion edition release will attract new viewers and delight and inform those who are already fans. The DVD VIDEO: "Hiroshima Mon Amour" is presented by Criterion in 1.33:1 full-frame, the film's original aspect ratio. The new high-definition digital transfer was created from the 35mm composite fine grain. Criterion also used the MTI restoration system to remove thousands of instances of dirt, scratches and other debris from the film print. The result, while not without some flaws, is still a fine effort for a movie of its age. Sharpness and detail are quite pleasing throughout much of the footage; it's only when stock footage is inserted into the film that sharpness occasionally gets a tad inconsistent. The stock footage is also where the problems mainly occur. The main body of the film appears in very good condition, with only minimal specks and dirt. However, the stock footage can look rather worn at times, with noticable specks, marks and other instances of wear. Still, no edge enhancement, pixelation or other faults occur and the fine grain of the film looks quite pleasing. Black level during the majority of the film looked strong, as well. Although the stock footage is problematic at times, I doubt the film has ever looked this good. SOUND: The mono soundtrack has been remastered at 24-bit, while any instances of pops, hiss or other issues have been removed via restoration tools. As with the picture quality, the soundtrack is about as fine a presentation as one can expect from a film of this era. Audio quality is quite good - louder dialogue seems a little sharp at times, but everything else remains clean and clear. The soundtrack is in French, with optional English subtitles. EXTRAS: Film historian Peter Cowie offers an intelligent, insightful track that explores all aspects of the film, from the history and background of the era to the writing, production, acting and other technical issues involved with the film. Director Alain Resnais is featured in two archival interviews, while there is also two interviews with actress Emmanuelle Riva - one archival, one done in 2003. Lastly, writer Marguerite Duras' screenplay annotations are offered, as is an isolated music & effects track. Final Thoughts: "Hiroshima Mon Amour" is a masterpiece, lead by masterful writing, stunning performances and imagery that assists the already strong story. Criterion's DVD edition provides very good audio/video quality, along with several informative supplements. Highly recommended. 
Film Grade The Film **** DVD Grades Video 87/B Audio: 83/B Extras: 85/B |