Major Themes of the Story Hiroshima Mon Amour

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Hiroshima Mon Amour
Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959), directed by Alain Resnais, is recognized as one of the most important drivers of the French New Wave. The story concerns love and war, suffering and forgetting. The film depicts a French actress and a Japanese architect who fall in love in Hiroshima, a city that suffered the atomic bomb attack and was rebuilt after the cataclysm of WWII. With the development of their relationship, the dusty memory of the woman is released gradually. It is also the story of two lovers who face similarly inescapable histories. The director uses a lot of cinematic techniques of French New Wave, such as non-linear narrative, montage, documentary-like shooting，and well-designed lighting, to reveal the themes of memory and forgetfulness, love and pain, past and present.
The pain of the past and memory have dominated various scenes in Hiroshima Mon Amour. Among various other occurrences, Emmanuelle Narrates about Nevers to her partner. She indicates that the Nevers was very small and it limited her freedom. She scratched the wall with her nails where by her attempts to escape failed. Her attempt to get out promoted physical and mental stress because, scratching the wall led to bleeding and she had to suck that blood. She claims that the walls in Nevers tasted salty. Therefore, Emmanuelle’s experience in Nevers highlight pain and suffering that she can barely forget. Additionally, the after math of destruction in Hiroshima left people injured while other lost their loved ones. The photograph scenes indicate wounded people. These highlights physical injuries and pain experienced by people of Hiroshima. These occasions are evident that Hiroshima Mon Amor channels the theme of both suffering and pain to the audience (Werner, Gruhl).
 The story unfolds in a non-linear manner where there are continuous allusions to the war. The film also shows shots of peaceful Hiroshima as well as flashbacks to the bombing. Long shot has been used to compare and contrast life in the past and the present. This is revealed by a long-shot when fire consumed the whole of Hiroshima and a longshot used to highlight the after math of the destruction where by the bare land of Hiroshima is revealed when previous buildings are nowhere to be seen. We know about the terrible story of Nevers from the woman’s perspective and recollections of her memory, but still, Hiroshima is mysterious, despite archival images and present-day reconstructions. The story that can be continuously questioned based on the accuracy of the protagonists. It is clear that the woman suffered while in France, but the story goes back and forth in the past and present so there is no clear plot development. However, by telling the story in a circular manner, the film delves into the lives of the two lovers in two cities, where there is a transition from a traumatic past to the future.
The theme of the film is clearly expressed at the beginning through a series of montages. The opening scene shows two people embracing, with close-up shots of their hands, shoulders and naked backs, which emphasizes the intimacy of the shots and their roles in the film. Duras described this scene as ashes, atom...