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Rob Edelman: Alain Resnais’ Swan Song

For the past six-plus decades, countless films have examined the Holocaust. Some are documentaries. Others are features, some fact-based and others fictional. But for me, the most poignant and gut-wrenching of all Holocaust films dates from 1955. It is 32 minutes long and it combines vivid imagery with a narration that asks such still-timely questions as: How could this have happened? Who is to blame and, most tellingly, who will accept responsibility?

The film in question is French. Its English title is NIGHT AND FOG and its director is Alain Resnais, one of the giants of the French cinema. (I would be remiss if I failed to observe that NIGHT AND FOG is an ideal film to show to those who are so used to watching fake violence on movie screens and who are so used to shrugging their shoulders and reacting impassively at the sight of blood and gore, whether manufactured or real.)

But back to Alain Resnais, whose early credits also include such classics as HIROSHIMA MON AMOUR and LAST YEAR AT MARIENBAD. Resnais passed away just over a year ago at the age of 91 and his final film, titled LIFE OF RILEY and based on a play by Alan Ayckbourn, has just been released on DVD and Blu-ray.

If the early films of Alain Resnais are solemn and unnerving in nature and are open to endless analysis, his final works are less serious and more whimsical. But they still are inspiring and challenging-- and all are linked by the manner in which they explore the nature of time and the fact that humans have no say whatsoever in measuring the passage of time.

LIFE OF RILEY involves three couples and what happens when they learn that George Riley, a longtime friend to the three women and two of the men, has inoperable cancer and has perhaps six months to live. How does each person respond to this grim news? This aspect of the story is better seen than described. And also, a picture of George Riley, who never appears onscreen, emerges as the characters talk about him, share their memories of him, and bring him into their present-day lives. Clearly, George is a joyous man who exists in a world that all too often is devoid of joy. He is contrasted to his friends, who collectively have forsaken whatever youthful enthusiasm they once possessed.

LIFE OF RILEY is not the first Resnais film that is based on an Alan Ayckbourn play. One of them, made almost a decade ago, is PRIVATE FEARS IN PUBLIC PLACES, which like LIFE OF RILEY is a chamber piece that follows various characters as they go about their lives. Both films are introspective explorations of the human condition that astutely scrutinize the characters and their personalities. And while doing so, both films ask: What are these men and women looking for? What will they settle for? How well do they really know the people around them?

LIFE OF RILEY is a fitting swan song for Alain Resnais. It is a clever, playful, intelligent film that features a crackerjack cast of French actors. Plus, it oozes creativity: It is filmed on what clearly are sets and, most unusually, its establishing shots are colorful drawings. But most significantly, one of the themes that Resnais explores is the importance of growing old gracefully. It should not be surprising, then, that the English translation of the film’s original French title is: LOVE, DRINK, AND SING.

Rob Edelman teaches film history at the University at Albany. He has written several books on film and television, and is an associate editor of Leonard Maltin’s Movie and Video Guide.

 

The views expressed by commentators are solely those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views of this station or its management.

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