:: IFFK 2008 ::

Hiroshima mon amour, directed by Alain Resnais, is about remembering forgotten memories and reconciling with them. A French actress and a Japanese architect meet at Hiroshima, a brief encounter that takes a life of its own.

The French woman and the Japanese man are fascinated by each other. They share a common bond and feel as if they have known each other forever. He helps the French actress come to terms with her painful past and the torment she went through after her first lover was killed.

During the German occupation of France during World War II, the woman, then young and very much in love with life, enters into an affair with a German soldier who is eventually murdered. This incident tilts her mental stability and she is subjected to solitary confinement in a cell for months following the ordeal. She has kept this part of her life hidden from everyone, even her husband. She has buried her memories within her self silently suffering from them.

The film reflects a perfect understanding of the many layers of humanity. Between the two characters Resnais has captured the essence and extent of life. Hiroshima mon amour projects an element of timelessness as it moves between the past and present. At one time the woman tries to convince the man that everything will be forgotten with time, even the affair they are having now at Hiroshima. The film implies that with time, the horrors of Hiroshima will pass into oblivion and the pain will be replaced by hopes and prayers.