Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Nameless Characters
Many factors contribute to the eeriness of "Last Year of Marienbad," but something I found particularly interesting was the lack of names. The three main characters are not named which parallels with the discussion the man and the woman have about the statue early in the film. He remarks that the names are not important. The names of the characters clearly were not important to the film maker likely for a similar reason. By not naming the statues, the figures depicted can be anybody. Similarly, by not naming the characters in the film, they can essentially be anybody. The lack of names adds to the ambiguity that prevails in the film.
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I did a little digging and found that in the published screenplay, the woman is referred to as "A", the first man is "X", and the man who may be her husband is "M". It seems that these characters were nameless from the start. I also found that the game that "M" kept winning at is called Nim.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a great observation and I actually kind of like when films use this tactic. It allows for the audience to map themselves and experiences onto the characters on the screen and I think that makes the themes more poignant and impactful.
ReplyDeleteThe same goes for Hiroshima Mon Amour. In the printed script, they are referred to as french woman and japanese man. But also, elle and lui. Interesting. I guess it does represent that it can represent anybody.
ReplyDeleteI agree and enjoy the idea of characters being able to be anybody simply because they have no names. It gives the audience more freedom with the film I think.
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