Post-war Japan is the setting for Hiroshima Mon Amour, Alain Resnais' groundbreaking and lyrical experiment in the language of cinema. It follows a French actress and a Japanese architect they as discuss the nature of memory, both personal and historic. Ushering in the French New Wave, Resnais jumps between the past and the present, the personal and the social, as the two lovers offer their perspectives on their relationship and their past. The imagery frequently juxtaposes ideas and themes - during the war, the actress had her head shaved for sleeping with an German soldier in the occupied French town of Nevers, contrasting with the Japanese women following the dropping of the bomb on Hiroshima losing their hair on account of radiation poisoning. It's both a striking and daring film in its construction, with a looseness of narrative that allows for the exploration of broader ideas. It's also a commentary on the meaningless cultural divisions which war creates, with love transcending boundaries, however fragile and tentative it may be.
