Last year, I watched Charlotte Wells’ Aftersun. In the movie, we see that Sophie, played by the lovely young actress Frankie Corio, remembers perhaps the last holiday she had with her father. The film beautifully captures how memories are often incomplete, distorted, and emotionally charged, offering a touching exploration of the past and its lingering impact on the present. Like many others, this film profoundly impacted me, reminding me of the holidays I had with my family as a child. I almost felt the sun burning my skin. Then I was very inspired with the theme of memory in cinema.
Cinema is obsessed with memory in many ways. Films are a storehouse of collective and individual memories; they frequently explore our memory processes and the things we choose to forget. A number of well-known films, including Hiroshima Mon Amour, 12 Monkeys, La Jetée, and Vertigo, examine this subject in interesting and varied ways.
In La Jetée, Chris Marker uses still images to tell the story of a man haunted by a childhood memory that becomes the key to his future. This film, a science-fiction short made in 1962, tells the story of a man haunted by a childhood memory at an airport. The memory becomes crucial when, in a post-apocalyptic future, he is sent back in time to retrieve a solution to save humanity. The still images create a sense of static memory, where each photograph represents a frozen moment in time, much like a snapshot of a memory. 12 Monkeys, inspired heavily by La Jetée, extends this exploration by delving into time travel and the reliability of memories in a dystopian future. The protagonist’s quest to understand his past and prevent a catastrophic future highlights the instability and subjectivity of memory. Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo also delves into the labyrinthine nature of memory. The protagonist, Scottie, is consumed by his recollections of a lost love, leading him into a spiral of obsession and deceit. The film’s exploration of memory’s power to distort reality and the human psyche’s vulnerability to its influence is both haunting and profound.
Among these films, Alain Resnais’ Hiroshima Mon Amour stands out as a masterful meditation on memory and its cinematic representation. Resnais, primarily a documentary filmmaker, brings a unique perspective to this narrative. The film intertwines the personal memories of a French actress and a Japanese architect with the collective memory of the Hiroshima bombing. This dual narrative structure serves to highlight the interplay between personal and historical memories.
Resnais’ documentary background is evident in his meticulous attention to detail and the film’s layered narrative. He uses memory as a means to explore the characters’ identities and their shared trauma. The fragmented, non-linear storytelling mirrors the way memories resurface and intermingle, often blurring the boundaries between past and present, personal and collective.
In Hiroshima Mon Amour, memory is not just a theme but a narrative device that shapes the film’s structure and emotional resonance. The characters’ recollections are interwoven with newsreel footage and poetic imagery, creating a tapestry of memory that is both intimate and universal. Resnais’ innovative use of memory challenges the viewer to reflect on the nature of remembrance and the ways in which it shapes our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
In conclusion, cinema’s preoccupation with memory reflects a deep-seated desire to understand and preserve the past. Films like Aftersun, La Jetée, 12 Monkeys, Vertigo, and Hiroshima Mon Amour offer diverse and nuanced explorations of memory, each contributing to our understanding of how memories are formed, altered, and recalled. Through these films, we are reminded of the power of memory to shape our identities, influence our perceptions, and connect us to the broader human experience.