In Hiroshima a French actress (Emmanuelle Riva) working on an antiwar film meets a Japanese architect (Eiji Okada). They become lovers, but their encounter only revives memories of the war. Their struggle to come to terms with the idea that life goes on is reflected in images from a collective memory in which the film’s pacifist subtheme is skillfully developed. The seamless integration of past and present, and the poetic fusion of music to text and image to the clipped poetry of dialogue, were shared tropes of Alain Resnais and screenwriter Marguerite Duras.