Last Year at Marienbad

The elegant epitome of European art-house cinema, Last Year at Marienbad was one of the true sensations of 1960s’ high culture, playing to sold-out audiences in Paris for months while dazzling—and puzzling—moviegoers everywhere else.

Decked out in stunning Chanel couture, Delphine Seyrig plays “A,” a mysterious woman pursued by the no less unfathomable “X” (Giorgio Albertazzi) through a baroque chateau and its formal gardens. The two execute a hypnotic pas de deux, as the film flashes back and jumps forward between past and present. Critic J. Hoberman noted, it’s at once “hopelessly retro, eternally avant-garde, and one of the most influential movies ever made (as well as one of the most reviled).” (93 mins., 35mm)