... Reality may not be what it used to be. Now with their new Deity and its now-revealed relationship with the film audience, a new order is beginning to emerge in the cosmos.
In truth. “Next Year at Marienbad” does more than allude to the Jewell Effect. It actually employs the technique. Sheldon is not merely a filmmaker. He is the ultimate reality maker. With his sacred film, he can ensure the world will realize his prophesy. Once the seven-day premier is over, the world itself will be transformed. The initial audience will be the self-proclaimed Marienbadists, who even now are setting up Sheldon as their new Deity and the “Next Year at Marienbad” as their new religion.
But there is more. Adolfo Morel himself is a creation of the Jewell Effect. His origins can be traced back to “The Invention of Morel,” a Latin American novella that helped inform and inspire “Last Year at Marienbad.”
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“The Invention of Morel” is a novel by Argentine fiction writer Adolfo Bioy Casares. According to Wikipedia.org, it is a classic example of Latin American Science Fiction. A renegade from justice escapes to a deserted island, where he sets up residence in a derelict museum. Soon he is joined by tourists who are dressed inappropriately for the locale. Rather than island wear, they appear to be clothed for a visit to a European resort, such as Marienbad. Afraid he’ll be turned over to the authorities, he takes to the swamps. The tourists take over the museum where he used to live.
Remaining hidden, he lurks about to keep an eye on the tourists. One of them is a woman, Faustine, who watches the sunset every day from a cliff on the west side of the island. He soon falls for her and wishes fervently to expel his ectoplasm into her membranes. She is frequently visited by a bearded tennis player named Morel. The renegade attempts a visit of his own, but she acts as if he does not exist. Soon, he realizes that all of the tourists act as if he does not exist. No one sees him. Also, he realizes that Morel and Faustine repeat the same conversations every week. He worries that he is losing his mind.
Then the tourists suddenly disappear. They are no where to be seen. The renegade looks for them in the museum. He finds no sign of anyone having been there during his time in the swamps. Strangely, the tourists return that night. They emerge out of nothing, but converse with one another as if they've been there for a while.
Avoiding direct contact, he observes them carefully and sees more odd happenings. In the aquarium he finds exact versions of the deceased fish he discovered on the day of his arrival. At the pool, he sees the tourists jump to shake off the cold even though the heat is intense. The oddest happening of all is in the sky, which has two suns and two moons.
The renegade constructs all manner of hypotheses, but none can compare to the truth that is revealed by Morel himself. He tells the tourists that he has been recording their actions of the past week with a machine of his own invention, a machine that can recreate reality. He explains that the recording is capturing their souls. Through an endless loop, they will all relive the past week indefinitely. And he’ll get to spend infinity with the woman he loves, presumably Faustine.
Upon learning that people captured in past recordings have died, one of the tourists surmises that they will all meet their deaths as well. Morel storms off in a huff. The renegade consults Morel’s notes and discovers that the invention is running on tide and wind, so the endless loop will continue to loop forever. He pictures many potential applications for Morel's machine. He even imagines one that could bring the dead back to life. He teaches himself how to run the machine, and he splices himself into the recording so that it appears he and Faustine are lovers. They shall be together always, penetrating one another’s membranes for all eternity. But first, he leaves a note for the next person who discovers the machine. He requests an alteration of the machine so that it can be made to merge souls. In this way, he hopes to truly become one with Faustine.
What a story, no? Let us consider its many ramifications. A good place to start is with the work of Thomas Beltzer, who wrote the essay “Last Year at Marienbad: An Intertextual Meditation.” Read it. We firmly recommend it.
Now back to the movie. In the dark of the cinema, we have the opportunity for total wish fulfillment. For instance, a Brooks/Faustine paring. Why not? Many of us choose to live in the swamps, spying on the tourists (i.e., the characters on the silver screen). One might even wish to be dead. ...