Alain Resnais

Cast · Director · Writer

Born

June 3, 1922 · Vannes, France

Died

March 1, 2014

Birth name

Alain Pierre Marie Jean Georges Resnais

"I make difficult films. But not on purpose." Alain Resnais was a French director, screenwriter, editor, and one of the main figures of the Nouvelle Vague. Fascinated by cinema since he was a child, Resnais studied Cinematography at the Institute of Higher International Studies in Paris. He began his career as an editor in 1946, collaborating with figures such as Varda and Truffaut. In his first feature film, Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959), he used flashbacks in an innovative way, with the exploration of memory as a theme and the use of time in a non-linear way. Resnais creatively employed techniques that challenged the norms of conventional cinema—such as the use of superimposed images and abrupt changes in editing—and invited the viewer to reflect on the past and the identity. His production did not cease until his death in 2014; some of his most recognized films are Last Year at Marienbad (1961) and Night and Fog (1956).