L'Année Dernière à Marienbad is a narrative film which plays with Appearance and Reality in a baroque fashion. This thesis is an attempt to come to terms with the Marienbad world view. In the introduction are discussed the arguments against the film as expressed by Pauline Kael, as well as the commentary style of my critical approach. In the first chapter we are faced with film as high art, as the camera takes us on an architectural tour of a baroque chateau while a nameless narrator describes the set. Eventually the voice is revealed to be that of an actor in a play. In the audience discussing this play we meet our three protagonists: A, a mysterious woman; M, a man who may be her husband; and X, a man who tries to persuade her to leave with him. We are teased by meaning and symbolism at every turn as we await the plot of our story to unfold. Chapter two takes us to the gardens where we are presented a statue of a man, woman and dog. X evokes scenes from A's and his "shared" past. The style of Marienbad's editing replaces traditional Hollywood Découpage with a version its creators believe to be closer to reality as it should be presented on film. A possible reason for the number of detractors of Marienbad is discovered to be the inherent passive aggression present in the film. The final chapter outlines X's search for an ending and discusses our reactions to these various solutions. The conclusion compares the ending from Resnais's Hiroshima Mon Amour to the end of Marienbad presenting the timeless reality of fictitious film. The search for a conclusion or answer to the riddle of Marienbad however remains elusive. We are invited to encounter possibilities as often as we, an audience, encounter L'Année Dernière à Marienbad. / Arts, Faculty of / French, Hispanic, and Italian Studies, Department of / Graduate

Zugl.: München, Univ., Diss., 2007

This thesis examines how the cinematic organization of film is used to convey meaning. Hiroshima mon amour (1959) and L'Annee derniere a Marienbad (1961) I two films directed by Alain Resnais, are used as models for this purpose. This thesis argues for a new type of film criticism, one that recognizes the uniqueness of film by adding technical analysis to the literary methods that currently dominate. Traditionally, film criticism has followed two directions: firstly that of the "film reviewer" whose efforts bow to the economic needs of the industry, and secondly the academic or scholarly approach which is based in large part on literary criticism, and falls into two general categories, thematic analysis and interpretive analysis. This thesis proposes that the literary methods which are appropriate for literature are inadequate for film, because of the way cinematographic technique is employed to convey meaning. To this end, the films, Hiroshima mon amour and L'Annee derniere a Marienbad, are analyzed in terms of technique and how technique structures film, as well as in more traditional terms. The evolution of film technology correlates directly with what a director is able to portray on the screen, and so it is appropriate to include in this examination the art-historical context of Hiroshima. mon amour and L'Annee derniere a Marienbad: what came directly before as well as what was happening in literature, art, politics and film technology contemporaneously with these two films. The organization of film not only occurs at a literary or intellectual level, but at a physical or technical level. The intent of this thesis is to implement a model for a third sort of film analysis, an alternative to interpretation-driven criticism, one which includes, in addition to explication and interpretation, the use of film technology as a valid means of comprehending a film. The result of this broader form of analysis is a more accurate understanding of film through the comprehension of the aspects which make it an original art form. The use of specific film technology forms a more balanced and accurate approach to film criticism.

This thesis deals with the phenomenon of attendance of Marienbad and its region in the 19th and at the beginning of the 20th century, when travelling for health and progress of tourism in spas became an inseparable part of social, economic and political life. The thesis shows everyday spa life in this period from the point of view of spa visitors, at the same time emphasizes social and economic aspect of given problems of history, as well as progress of tourism and travelling in this area. The thesis is regionally focused, but it has also more general overlap to the question of balneology and health resorts in European benchmark. The thesis shows Marienbad as a cosmopolitan place - meeting point of cultural, political, economic and territorial elite.

Este trabalho tem como objetivo analisar os reflexos do cinema como elementos pertencentes ao texto e constituintes do processo criativo na obra de Caio Fernando Abreu. Para demonstrar as afinidades da narrativa do autor com a linguagem fílmica, duas análises são aprofundadas. A primeira delas, a partir do conto “Aqueles dois”, do livro Morangos mofados, com o filme Infâmia (The children’s hour), adaptação da peça homônima de Lillian Hellman. A relação entre narrativa e filme primeiramente se estabelece através da menção da película no corpo do texto, visto que ambas as obras têm o mesmo enfoque temático. Ainda, a partir de tal diálogo, trabalha-se a hipótese de o conto ser uma adaptação literária do filme de 1961. A outra análise desenvolvida ocorre a partir do diálogo da novela “Bem longe de Marienbad”, de Estranhos estrangeiros, com o filme O ano passado em Marienbad (L’année dernière à Marienbad), uma das obras emblemáticas da nouvelle vague. A fragmentação da narrativa literária e da narrativa fílmica é um dos pontos de convergência entre as obras e, consequentemente, um dos pontos de estudo deste trabalho. Se tradicionalmente a literatura foi e é transposta para as telas de cinema, a obra de Caio Fernando Abreu demonstra que o contrário também é possível. Tal diálogo inter-artístico, elemento organizador na obra do autor em muitos momentos, mostra-se, portanto, enriquecedor aos estudos literários e interdisciplinares. / This work aims at analyzing how cinema makes itself present in the literary work of Caio Fernando Abreu. In order to demonstrate the relation between the author’s narrative and film language, two analyzes are carried out. The first one, focused on the relation between the story “Aqueles dois”, from Morangos mofados, and the film The children’s hour, an adaptation of the homonymous play by Lillian Hellman. The dialogue between narrative and film is established firstly through mentioning the film in the text, because both works have the same thematic focus. From this reading, this study works with the hypothesis that this short story is a literary adaptation of the film produced in 1961. The other analysis is based on the dialogue between the novelette “Bem longe de Marienbad”, from Estranhos estrangeiros, and the film Last Year at Marienbad (L’année dernière à Marienbad), one of the emblematic nouvelle vague works. The fragmentation of both the literary narrative and the cinematic one is a point of convergence between these two works and a point of examination of the present study. As a result, if Literature traditionally has been transposed to the screen, the work of Caio Fernando Abreu makes it clear that the opposite is also possible. This inter-artistic dialogue, a frequent organizing element in his works, shows how it can enrich literary and interdisciplinary studies.

Este trabalho tem como objetivo analisar os reflexos do cinema como elementos pertencentes ao texto e constituintes do processo criativo na obra de Caio Fernando Abreu. Para demonstrar as afinidades da narrativa do autor com a linguagem fílmica, duas análises são aprofundadas. A primeira delas, a partir do conto “Aqueles dois”, do livro Morangos mofados, com o filme Infâmia (The children’s hour), adaptação da peça homônima de Lillian Hellman. A relação entre narrativa e filme primeiramente se estabelece através da menção da película no corpo do texto, visto que ambas as obras têm o mesmo enfoque temático. Ainda, a partir de tal diálogo, trabalha-se a hipótese de o conto ser uma adaptação literária do filme de 1961. A outra análise desenvolvida ocorre a partir do diálogo da novela “Bem longe de Marienbad”, de Estranhos estrangeiros, com o filme O ano passado em Marienbad (L’année dernière à Marienbad), uma das obras emblemáticas da nouvelle vague. A fragmentação da narrativa literária e da narrativa fílmica é um dos pontos de convergência entre as obras e, consequentemente, um dos pontos de estudo deste trabalho. Se tradicionalmente a literatura foi e é transposta para as telas de cinema, a obra de Caio Fernando Abreu demonstra que o contrário também é possível. Tal diálogo inter-artístico, elemento organizador na obra do autor em muitos momentos, mostra-se, portanto, enriquecedor aos estudos literários e interdisciplinares. / This work aims at analyzing how cinema makes itself present in the literary work of Caio Fernando Abreu. In order to demonstrate the relation between the author’s narrative and film language, two analyzes are carried out. The first one, focused on the relation between the story “Aqueles dois”, from Morangos mofados, and the film The children’s hour, an adaptation of the homonymous play by Lillian Hellman. The dialogue between narrative and film is established firstly through mentioning the film in the text, because both works have the same thematic focus. From this reading, this study works with the hypothesis that this short story is a literary adaptation of the film produced in 1961. The other analysis is based on the dialogue between the novelette “Bem longe de Marienbad”, from Estranhos estrangeiros, and the film Last Year at Marienbad (L’année dernière à Marienbad), one of the emblematic nouvelle vague works. The fragmentation of both the literary narrative and the cinematic one is a point of convergence between these two works and a point of examination of the present study. As a result, if Literature traditionally has been transposed to the screen, the work of Caio Fernando Abreu makes it clear that the opposite is also possible. This inter-artistic dialogue, a frequent organizing element in his works, shows how it can enrich literary and interdisciplinary studies.

Este trabalho tem como objetivo analisar os reflexos do cinema como elementos pertencentes ao texto e constituintes do processo criativo na obra de Caio Fernando Abreu. Para demonstrar as afinidades da narrativa do autor com a linguagem fílmica, duas análises são aprofundadas. A primeira delas, a partir do conto “Aqueles dois”, do livro Morangos mofados, com o filme Infâmia (The children’s hour), adaptação da peça homônima de Lillian Hellman. A relação entre narrativa e filme primeiramente se estabelece através da menção da película no corpo do texto, visto que ambas as obras têm o mesmo enfoque temático. Ainda, a partir de tal diálogo, trabalha-se a hipótese de o conto ser uma adaptação literária do filme de 1961. A outra análise desenvolvida ocorre a partir do diálogo da novela “Bem longe de Marienbad”, de Estranhos estrangeiros, com o filme O ano passado em Marienbad (L’année dernière à Marienbad), uma das obras emblemáticas da nouvelle vague. A fragmentação da narrativa literária e da narrativa fílmica é um dos pontos de convergência entre as obras e, consequentemente, um dos pontos de estudo deste trabalho. Se tradicionalmente a literatura foi e é transposta para as telas de cinema, a obra de Caio Fernando Abreu demonstra que o contrário também é possível. Tal diálogo inter-artístico, elemento organizador na obra do autor em muitos momentos, mostra-se, portanto, enriquecedor aos estudos literários e interdisciplinares. / This work aims at analyzing how cinema makes itself present in the literary work of Caio Fernando Abreu. In order to demonstrate the relation between the author’s narrative and film language, two analyzes are carried out. The first one, focused on the relation between the story “Aqueles dois”, from Morangos mofados, and the film The children’s hour, an adaptation of the homonymous play by Lillian Hellman. The dialogue between narrative and film is established firstly through mentioning the film in the text, because both works have the same thematic focus. From this reading, this study works with the hypothesis that this short story is a literary adaptation of the film produced in 1961. The other analysis is based on the dialogue between the novelette “Bem longe de Marienbad”, from Estranhos estrangeiros, and the film Last Year at Marienbad (L’année dernière à Marienbad), one of the emblematic nouvelle vague works. The fragmentation of both the literary narrative and the cinematic one is a point of convergence between these two works and a point of examination of the present study. As a result, if Literature traditionally has been transposed to the screen, the work of Caio Fernando Abreu makes it clear that the opposite is also possible. This inter-artistic dialogue, a frequent organizing element in his works, shows how it can enrich literary and interdisciplinary studies.