#824: RESNAIS, Alain: Muriel, Or The Time Of Return (1963)

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RESNAIS, Alain (France)
Muriel, Or The Time Of Return [1963]
Spine #824
Blu-ray

Alain Resnais's Muriel, or The Time of Return, the director's follow-up to Last Year at Marienbad, is as radical a reflection on the nature of time and memory as its predecessor. The always luminous Delphine Seyrig stars as an antique shop owner and widow in Boulgne-sur-Mer, whose past comes back to haunt her when a former lover reenters her life. Meanwhile, her stepson is tormented by his own ghosts, related to his service in France's recently ended war in Algeria. Featuring a multilayered script by Jean Cayrol and inventively edited to evoke its middle-class characters' political and personal realities, the fragmented, emotionally powerful Muriel reminds viewers that the past is always present.

116 minutes
Color
Monaural
in French
1:66:1 aspect ratio
Criterion Release 2016
Director/Writers


Screenplay by Jean Cayrol.
Alain Resnais was 41 when he directed Muriel, or the Time of Return.

Other Resnais films in the Collection:

#197: Night And Fog (1955)
#196: Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959)
#478: Last Year At Marienbad (1961)

The Film

A

Film Rating (0-60):

60

The Extras

The Booklet

Twelve-page wraparound featuring an essay by film scholar James Quandt.

Commentary

None.

Excerpt 1

From the 1980 documentary Une approche d’Alain Resnais, révolutionnair discret.

Excerpt 2

From a 1969 interview with actor Seyrig.

Interview 1

With composer Hans Werner Henze from 1963.

Interview 2

With film scholar François Thomas, author of L’atelier d’Alain Resnais.

Trailer

Extras Rating (0-40):

39

60 + 39 =

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