This summer, we who remained in Paris were able to plunge into the toppling splendours of the new wave of French cinema as it came racing in from Cannes, plumed with its prizes and its publicity. An invigorating experience where youthful panache made up for technical hesitations, and the rejuvenation of themes compensated for the lack of depth in their development. But perhaps only one film emerged from the froth and bubble as a real contribution to the cinematic medium, not merely by the treatment and originality of its subject, but by a grasp of the cinema’s possibilities in translating the modern concept of time and space. This film is Hiroshima, mon amour, directed by Alain Resnais, who at thirty-eight has been described as the most brilliant director of his generation.

To measure the importance of Resnais’ contribution, it is interesting to compare Hiroshima, mon amour with another film of the avant garde—Louis Malle’s Les Amants, which was completed in 1958 and is still to be seen on Paris screens. Three years younger than Resnais, Louis Malle already has two major films to his credit and is an experienced cameraman. Both films are scripted by women and have a woman in her early thirties as their central character.