Last Year at Marienbad // The Time Image

Alain Resnais, 1961, 94 mins

One of the most discussed and influential avant-garde films of all time, Last Year at Marienbad turns the art of cinema inside out. Alain Resnais's masterpiece is a film that has provoked debate for decades. In a strange and isolated château, a man becomes acquainted with a woman and insists that they have met before.

The Time Image celebrates narrative deconstruction and alternative approaches to filmmaking, showcasing independent and guerrilla-style cinema that challenges conventional storytelling.

Named after French philosopher Gilles Deleuze's concept of the "time image," the series draws from his distinction between two modes of cinema. While the "movement image" propels viewers through cause-and-effect narratives where action drives the story forward, the "time image" asks viewers to dwell in moments, experience duration directly, and engage with memory, contemplation, and the gaps between events. In time image films, characters often observe rather than act, and meaning emerges through temporal layering rather than plot progression.

Previously known as Mumblecore Madness, the series has been reframed through Deleuze's philosophical lens. While "mumblecore" suggested a specific aesthetic, The Time Image better captures our broader focus.

Featuring selections from various countries and eras, The Time Image invites audiences to embrace cinema that resists easy resolution and celebrates the richness of human connection.

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Host or Publisher Stray Cat Film Center