Alain Resnais

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Lore & Background

Resnais was born in 1922 in Vannes in Brittany, where his father was a pharmacist. An only child, he was often ill with asthma in childhood, which led to his being withdrawn from school and educated at home. He was an eager reader, in a range that extended from classics to comic books, but from the age of 10 he became fascinated by films. For his twelfth birthday his parents gave him a Kodak 8mm camera with which he began to make his own short films, including a three-minute version of *Fantômas*. Around the age of 14, he discovered surrealism and through that an interest in the works of André Breton. Visits to the theatre in Paris gave Resnais the desire to be an actor, and in 1939 he moved to Paris to become an assistant in Georges Pitoëff's company at the Théâtre des Mathurins. From 1940 to 1942 he studied acting in the Cours René-Simon (and one of his small jobs at this time was as an extra in the film *Les Visiteurs du soir*), but he then decided in 1943 to apply to the newly formed film school IDHEC to study film editing. The filmmaker Jean Grémillon was one of the teachers who had the most influence on him at that period. Resnais left in 1945 to do his military service which took him to Germany and Austria with the occupying French forces, as well as making him a temporary member of a travelling theatre company, Les Arlequins. He returned to Paris in 1946 to start his career as a film editor, but also began making short films of his own. Finding himself to be a neighbour of the actor Gérard Philipe, he persuaded him to appear in a 16mm surrealist short, *Schéma d'une identification* (now lost).

Reader's Guide

Resnais's significance lies in his sustained exploration of memory, consciousness, and the imagination through formally innovative cinema. His early short *Van Gogh* (1948) received a prize at the Venice Biennale and won an Oscar for Best 2-reel Short in 1949. *Night and Fog* (1956) was one of the first documentaries about the Nazi concentration camps, using a distancing technique by alternating historical black-and-white images with contemporary colour footage in long tracking shots; the narration was written by Jean Cayrol, a survivor of the camps. His first feature, *Hiroshima mon amour* (1959), originated as a commission to make a documentary about the atomic bomb, but in discussion with novelist Marguerite Duras a fusion of fiction and documentary was developed which acknowledged the impossibility of speaking about Hiroshima. The film was shown at the 1959 Cannes Film Festival alongside Truffaut's *Les Quatre Cents Coups*, and its success became associated with the emerging French New Wave. *Last Year at Marienbad* (1961), made with novelist Alain Robbe-Grillet, won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival and provoked many divergent interpretations. *Muriel* (1963) used a fractured narrative to explore the mental states of its characters and was among the first French films to comment on the Algerian War. Throughout his career, Resnais established a regular practice of working with writers previously unconnected with cinema, including Jean Cayrol, Marguerite Duras, Alain Robbe-Grillet, Jorge Semprún and Jacques Sternberg. He won many awards including one Academy Award, two César Awards for best director (nominated on eight occasions), three Louis Delluc Prizes, and one Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival.

Did You Know?

• Resnais's short film *Van Gogh* (1948) won an Oscar for Best 2-reel Short in 1949.
• For his twelfth birthday, Resnais received a Kodak 8mm camera and made a three-minute version of *Fantômas*.
• Resnais was an extra in the film *Les Visiteurs du soir* while studying acting.
• The narration for *Night and Fog* was written by Jean Cayrol, a survivor of the Nazi concentration camps.
• Resnais signed the 1960 Manifesto of the 121, which protested French military policy in Algeria.

Roots in Montreal and a Convent Upbringing

Her heritage was predominantly French Canadian, with a thread of distant Irish ancestry running through the family. Her childhood was shaped by a rigid twelve-year stint in a convent school, an experience she came to resent. She was still two months shy of her diploma when she made her professional stage debut in 1961, playing Rosine in Le Barbier de Séville with the Théâtre de Gesù company. She dropped out of the conservatory entirely and, from that point forward, remained in steady demand across radio, stage, television, and the silver screen.

A French Director's Discovery and Parisian Breakthrough

The critical response was immediate and enthusiastic. Yet despite having carved out a genuine foothold in the French film world, Bujold made the deliberate decision to return to Canada, a choice that would set the stage for her next major leap.

Anne Boleyn and the Road to International Fame

Producer Hal B. Wallis had spotted her earlier in the Canadian film Isabel (1968) and championed her for the part. Universal Pictures, which released the film, signed her to a three-picture deal. Tensions with Universal erupted when she declined to appear in Mary, Queen of Scots (1971); the studio responded with a $450,000 lawsuit.