Did he just shoot slightly different scenes and jumble them up in order to create an experience that can be interpreted numerous ways? It seems kind of, I don't know.. cheap if he did. I want to know if he knew what he was doing.
shareThere are a number of interviews with Alain Resnais. I can't really remember them, but I definitely think he knew exactly what he was doing. This movie, however, is one of his most abstract. Resnais says that he wanted to see the "resulting creative offspring from the exercise." The allusions to warped memories, distorted perceptions and the labyrinthine dreamscape seem to reflect, more than anything, Resnais creativity at work.
Perhaps this is why Resnais himself has said that the film really doesn't "mean" anything. Yet while the film's plot and timeline are seemingly incoherent, themes and motifs are constant, an atmosphere is established, and by delving into the mind of Resnais through this film, we find an illustration of the human mind, namely its inherent confusion when reality and perception are pitted against each other.
Yeah it´s obvious both Resnais and Robbe-Grillet had a very good idea what they were doing. It´s a meticulously crafted piece.
"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan
Indeed!
If you let go and don't think Marienbad as a traditional narrative but an experiment, it becomes easier to accept, appreciate and even understand.
I have to add that it also seems to be perfect cinematic adaptation of Robbe-Grillet's literal style.
We are dealing with human mind here. Funnily I think that this film would be much easier to understand if it would've been made recently. Then there would be cgi tricks all over and no need for actors to remain in still pose to represent the stillness of time for example. They would just be frozen like in some matrix film :)
Also the looped nature of these background people having same conversations would be real loops... and they wouldn't have to use creativity to show same character in multiple paradoxical positions in same scene.
I'm sure I don't have to tell you that I really prefer the older way :) It can be magical. Also they don't make costume design like that anymore. Or pretty much anything that we see in this true masterpiece.
"You got to bleed for the dancer!"
-Ronnie James Dio
Rest in Peace, my Hero.