A man meets a married woman at a resort and they have an affair. A year later the man returns to the resort and meets her again only this time to find that she has no recollection of ever meeting him. To make things worse the world these characters inhabit is one of strangeness and disaffection. Characters speak in tongues and behave erratically and zombie like. Are these people ghosts, floating around a mansion of purgatory. Is our hero experiencing the existentialist nightmare of being alone in his perception of reality?. Is he the only one that truly exists?.
Perhaps these characters are merely that, characters trapped in a film that never seems to end and only our hero is wise to it and wants to escape the never ending loop of fictional life? The interpretations can be many and all can potentially be correct. Personally i prefer to see it as the existentialist horror it is. Bearing in mind the period it was made (books and ideas from Satre and Camus making their mark around this time)
Don't get me wrong, i'm not suggesting this film is a masterpiece or even an entertaining romp of mild escapism. The fact is i found the film very confusing, strange, irritating and actually rather boring for very long periods. I wouldn't recommend it lightly. That said, once the film was over, i did ponder the various interpretations, considered the meaning and even questioned the very nature of existence. How many films make you do that?!
Perhaps these characters are merely that, characters trapped in a film that never seems to end and only our hero is wise to it and wants to escape the never ending loop of fictional life? The interpretations can be many and all can potentially be correct. Personally i prefer to see it as the existentialist horror it is. Bearing in mind the period it was made (books and ideas from Satre and Camus making their mark around this time)
Don't get me wrong, i'm not suggesting this film is a masterpiece or even an entertaining romp of mild escapism. The fact is i found the film very confusing, strange, irritating and actually rather boring for very long periods. I wouldn't recommend it lightly. That said, once the film was over, i did ponder the various interpretations, considered the meaning and even questioned the very nature of existence. How many films make you do that?!