5 Films by Luis Bunuel

5 Films by Luis Bunuel

My first introduction to Bunuel was on a website where they had listed the most shocking scenes in film history. A film was on the list that I had never heard of, Le Chien Andalou, as a film buff always in search of something new, I looked into this film and there I discovered Bunuel. Though the first film I actually watched was L'Age D'Or, I became fascinated by the uniqueness of Bunuel's style, with surrealism. Now that I have watched a handful of Bunuel's film I felt it necessary to introduce others to this famous (though unknown to most people) director.

So here I present a review of some of Bunuel's classics, a collection of films unlike any others.


Le Chien Andalou
The most famous short ever made. Le Chien Andalou is based on a pair of dreams by Bunuel and Salvidor Dali and finding the meaning of this film is like finding the meaning to a dream, try all you want, but you can never be sure you actually found it. The film centers around two lovers but it could hardly be said that the film is about these lovers, the film is essentially plotless.

The most famous scene that of the eye being slit by a straight razor (held by Bunuel himself) is said to represent the assault on the senses that the audience is about to experience. From there the film meanders through a series of distantly related scenes. The only words in this silent film offer insight into the pausing of time, though the text suggests an improbably passing of time and only furthers Bunuel's assault on the audience. It is a film that shows the full possibilities of film, of the tricks that can be played on the audience. The film that deconstructs cinema by offering a film without a plot, a series of interconnected but severed scenes both meaningful and meaningless and a narrative timeline that though stated, is completely improbably. But since the film declares this passing of time, how can we say it didn't happen?

This is a wonderfully imaginative film and Bunuel's first attack on the public (something he would continue throughout his career). A must for any true cinephile.


L'Age D'Or (The Golden Age)
The followup to Le Chien Andalou, though Dali is also credited with the writing he has claimed many of his ideas where ignored and cut. This film caused so much controversy it was banned for nearly 60 years in some countries. The film was seen as lewd and blasphemous, the scene combining religion with the Marques de Sade is enough to get a film banned today, let alone in 1931.

L'Age D'Or follows more of a plot (again about two lovers, though they are only actually in the middle portion of the film) then Le Chien Andalou though like any surrealist film, it still leaves a lot to interpretation (though this film unlike Le Chien Andalou appears have placed more meaning behind its scenes). Some ideas are subtle and require a careful eye, while others (such as the wagon cart moving unnoticed through the upper class party) are a little more straight forward. L'Age D'Or starts to show off the oddly absurd sense of humor found in Bunuel's later works while at the same time offers some striking and powerful scenes.


Viridiana
I didn't know what my initial reaction to this film was; I just didn’t know what to say about it. It is not like the previous films mentioned, it is not a surreal film, it is a serious drama, and a powerful one at that.

Viridiana is a young woman who just before her convocation visits her sick Uncle at his request, as she may never see him again. Due to the events that occur at her uncle's house she decides to turn away from the church and seeks to help those less fortunate instead, so she takes in as many homeless people she can find and gives them a place to eat and sleep.

The homeless people are a great bunch of characters; they are poor, unhealthy, opinionated, discriminating, fun-loving, carefree and hateful. They are not just a group of beggars that we look upon with sadness or shame. They are real complex people and a truly memorable bunch.

The beggars look upon Viridiana with kindness, they admire at her beauty and kindness, but with the Uncle's son inheriting the estate Viridiana can only give the beggars the barn and guest house to live in. The beggars are still treated like dirt by the son and the other people at the estate and tensions begin to flare up between Viridiana and the son, as well as among the beggars themselves (as they feel certain individuals should not be welcome into their home).

A very deep and complex film (though somehow still a simple story) about a beautiful woman who is confronted by her religious believes and the events and people of the world around her. A woman confronted by what people want from her, what people want in life, and what she believes she can provide, about what she wishes to provide. A film that will most likely leave you feeling similar to me, simply unsure how to feel about what had just happened.


The Exterminating Angel
Roughly 20 guests are invited for dinner following a play. But when the dinner ends the guests begin moving to the living room for some music and to socialize, wherein the guest suddenly find themselves trapped. Every time a guest attempts to leave the room something happens that causes them to turn back into the room. But there is nothing physically preventing them from leaving the room.

Tensions flare, starvation and survival seep into their minds as the guests wait days for the rescue team to save them from their imprisonment. But it appears that the rescue team is unable to enter the house.

Bunuel works wonders with the guests. It is simply amazing how he works all of them into the story, giving them all a unique personality and perspective. The camera work is also superb, drifting among the guests, exiting and entering conversations as the viewer moves throughout the party (and later the dinner room). Giving the viewer the impression that they are themselves a guest of the party, drifting among the guests, learning who they are, catching parts of the conversation and then moving on to meet more people. The story is just amazing, the film flawlessly works all of the guests into the brilliant script.

The film (like many of Bunuel's works) is a satire of the upper class and their customs as well as a satire of human nature when faced with survival (the superstition and despair everyone turns to in the face of death). But unlike serious dramas about survival the viewer realizes that these guests are not trapped, and can't help but laugh at their foolishness (because when you take away the actual threat of death, all their actions just seem foolish). The film also works to satirize the actions of humans, how politeness, policy and curtsey, if followed by everyone, can bring a complete standstill to society. A surreal masterpiece of satire.


The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie focuses on a group of individuals as they attempt to have a meal together. A wonderful send up of the upper class in France who were often a target for Bunuel. Though there is food, these individuals just cannot seem to eat a meal as the man-made constructs of society or human nature seem to always find a way of getting in the way. So while people starve in the world from lack of food, these individuals don't eat because customs within society prevent them from eating.

This is another one of Bunuel's surreal films. Though each characters actions are justified and there is an actual a reason these individuals cannot eat (unlike in The Exterminating Angel where there is nothing preventing them from leaving the room). However the reasons become more and more absurd as the film progresses to the point where it all seems unreal (and sometimes is).

The film also gains an unreal quality due to various dreams and stories told by the characters. In one scene a solider just sits down at the table and asks if they would like to know his life story, and then processed to tell it. In another scene someone is asked to tell the guests of the dream he had the night before. These are all things the people would not normally just blurt outright. Though they are important, people do not just say these things, they usually hint at various things and eventually, usually reluctantly, they tell their story of life or of a haunting dream. This is how characters in a film act as well. Characters don't just explain themselves directly, they develop, the audience learns who they are throughout the film. But not with these characters in The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie. They are all too willing to be heard, to be understood, they don't wish to wait, they wish to act now, to speak now. It is a quirk of communication where one thinks because of curtsy or customs that they should not simply speak.

An absurd, ridiculous, hilarious, shocking, frustrating, surreal film.