#65
Post
by Shrew » Fri Aug 01, 2014 5:47 pm
Because having youth appeal is offensive.
I posted in the AV Club article about Resnais's modernism vs. postmodernism, but that's just part of it. Resnais is in general a much less accessible filmmaker than the other two, and Hiroshima a much less accessible film. Breathless is built on still radical editing (jump cuts are common, but not quite in the same way), a catchy jazz score, and "a girl and a gun" plot that's easy to get into. The 400 Blows captures a fairly universal feeling of alienated adolescence. They're also, among other things, fun, which isn't a word that would really describe Hiroshima. The other films grow out of and reflect cinephilia, whereas Hiroshima is very much its own beast. It's themes are memory and trauma, which are both things more likely to be appreciated with age. It's response to these issues also involves a lot more intellectualizing and distancing rather than the stronger emotional elements of 400 Blows and Breathless (this is not an insult against those films, before you accuse me of that).
As to the director's other films, Godard's filmography post-Weekend is probably in a far worse critical state than Resnais. I think it's improved a bit recently, but you still have plenty of critics casually dismissing it (hello forum villain of the week Mike D'Angelo), and I think a majority of casual Godard fans don't bother to explore beyond the 60s. On the other hand, the late Resnais films were usually met an attempt to engage (if also with bafflement). Access is also a problem.
Last Year is probably the best candidate for an accessible Resnais film, particularly for young people. The style and structure is more radical and has been less successfully integrated into later films than that of Hiroshima. However, it will always be a bit infuriating to people who need clear solutions to "puzzlebox" films or clear narratives, so it's going to be more divisive.