Hiroshima, Mon Amour started out as a very confusing jumble of words and images flashing before the viewer’s eyes.  A phrase would be said and then shut down in an instant, as videos of a war ravaged land were sprawled across the screen.  The french woman spoke as if Hiroshima personally affected her and her family, as her claims were refuted by her lover each time.  I found it odd that she was the one talking about the horrors of Hiroshima, and not her Japanese partner, who actually lost family members to the bombing.  Once past the confusing introduction, the movie had a change of pace.  

One of the most stand out scenes of the film was when Elle was recalling the time that she lost her previous lover, and how she deteriorated afterwards.  Similar to another forgien film, Nights of Cabiria, Elle had such intense emotions about the whole thing, which makes sense given her situation.  In Cabiria, Cabiria breaks down at the end of the film, when she discovers that her whole relationship has been a lie.  She wants to die at that point, as she flings herself onto the forest floor wishing for death.  I just found the two women in these films similar in their reaction to trauma and devastation- screaming and crying in a passion fueled rage.  For Elle, the rage was so bad that had to be locked up in her basement.  The representation of the pure sadness radiating from Elle was wonderfully done, because I was able to connect with her pain.  

I think one of the most important things the film talks about is how nothing is ever as it once was, even if a moment is as beautiful and tender as Elle and Lui’s time together.  This is shown specifically in the dramatic ending, in which Elle calls Lui “Hiroshima” and Lui calls Elle “Nevers.”  These are both places that each person is associated with, and although Elle declines Lui’s offer to live with him, she will still remember him by where she met him.  I feel like this happens a lot in life.  Sometimes you meet someone for just one moment, and then you never see them again.  That one moment defines them in your eyes.  To Elle, the moment she was in Hiroshima defined her relationship with Lui.  Lui calls Elle “Nevers” because that is the place she fell in love with and witnessed her partner die.  These locations define the characters as moments in their lives that cut deep.  I spent my Freshman year of college in Boston at a different college, and that year I was able to form a relationship unlike any other.  To me, in a way, that relationship is defined by the city it took place in.  If I were being labeled in this way, I would certainly be labeled as “Boston.”  The ending is perfectly bittersweet.  It made me think about the fact that, in life, moments are just that- moments.  They only last for a little while before your whole life is changed.  Some moments you live through are so beautiful that you wish you could relive them over and over again, but sadness comes with the fact that it is not possible.  Nothing is forever, everything is constantly changing and life continues on.  For Elle and Lui, life will continue on with or without them being in each other’s lives, and that fact is sad but true.