(click to enlarge)
Resnais (credit: Courtesy of the French Film Office, New York)

(born June 3, 1922, Vannes, France) French film director. After studying at the French cinema school IDHEC, he made short films on the visual arts (Van Gogh [1948]) and documentaries (Night and Fog [1956]). His first feature film, Hiroshima mon amour (1959), created a sensation with its alternation between past and present and is considered one of the earliest and best films of the New Wave. He continued his exploration of the complex themes of time and memory in Last Year at Marienbad (1961). His later films include Muriel (1963), Stavisky (1974), My American Uncle (1980), Love unto Death (1984), I Want to Go Home (1989), Smoking/No Smoking (1993), and Same Old Song (1997).

For more information on Alain Resnais, visit Britannica.com.

Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 1994-2012 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.