Fantasporto

To most cinema lovers Robbe-Grillet is best known for the fantastic screenplay of  "Last Year in Marienbad," directed by Alain Resnais and the winner of the Golden Lion in Venice. A story about the the paths of memory, the game of Marienbad has become one of the most interesting mathematical challenges that subverts the very idea of ​​the game since the first one to play is the one that always wins. The film caused an uproar, making Resnais become one of the most prestigious French directors on the edge of the nouvelle vague and arousing interest in the work of this writer.

Robbe-Grillet is, alongside with Marguerite Duras, one of the great names of French literature, creators and leaders of the nouveau roman movement and interestingly both yielded to the irresistible temptation to pass the written word to the big screen.

He is a main figure of a time when French cinema was the beacon of culture, and the work of this writer and filmmaker has its distinctive trademark. With a dense but poetic writing, with an attraction for surreal and dreamlike world, always on the verge of fantasy and with a touch of chic eroticism, Robbe-Grillet became one of the most interesting directors from the decades of 60s and 70s.

Born in Brest in 1922 and having first chosen a scientific educaton, at the age of thirty he changes direction and starts a literary career with "Les Gommes", his debut work. The collaboration with Alain Resnais opens the doors of fame for him. Robbe-Grillet always preferred  to be the director of his own screenplays. His filmography of only ten feature films is  "L'Immortelle", "Trans-Europ-Express," "L'homme qui Ment," "L'éden et après", "N. a pris les dés ...", "Glissements progressifs du plaisir", "Le jeu avec le feu", "La belle captive", "Un bruit qui rend fou", "Gradiva". In all of them one can find this singular vision of a film where the word is king, where the style makes the difference and the image seduces the viewer while provoking their innermost and perverse desires. Robbe-Grillet was fortunate to be commercially distributed in Portugal soon after April 25th, when the end of censorship allowed at last access to the uncut versions of his films. Fantasporto will honor this legendary author, now almost forgotten, in what will be a journey back in the happy times of French cinema. A unique opportunity to see the work of this great filmmaker on the big screen.