Luis Buñuel

So, this is my first time checking out his work. They’re running another one of his retrospectives over at the Museum of Modern Art, and today they've got Andalusian Dog, Golden Age, and Viridiana on the schedule.

Has anyone seen them?
Anyone know much more about them?
Is anyone a fan?
Is anyone down to write a little something about them?

I was hanging out in Central Park a couple of months ago—maybe three, I lost track—when they were screening some films. Caught "Andalusian Dog" and "Simon of the Desert." Everyone talks about "Andalusian Dog" like it’s this untouchable classic, so I figured I’d check it out... honestly, I didn't really get it. Just some dream logic from Buñuel and Dahlia, nothing more. A bit messy and underwhelming. On the other hand, "Simon of the Desert" is easily one of the wildest things I've ever seen. Highly recommend. 👍

So I was watching
Andalusian Dog—people can praise it all they want, but honestly? It’s total garbage. After digging through the internet for an hour, I finally stumbled upon a quote where Buñuel says he and Dahlia specifically wanted to make a movie where you couldn't draw any rational conclusions from it. Once I knew that, the movie actually got better. Still complete trash, though.
The Golden Age—I actually fell asleep halfway through because it was so boring.
Viridiana—I was absolutely exhausted, but I didn't even yawn once during this one. It is a very, very good film. Seriously, highly recommend it to everyone.

Anyway, this Saturday I'm diving into Simon of the Desert along with two other films of his. I'm feeling optimistic because all three are from his later period. That means we skip those silly ants coming out of hands and get more dialogue and hanging uncles, much like in Viridiana, so it should be good.
And my earlier recommendation for Simon is legit.
We'll see how it goes.

By the way, did anyone else catch these?

Ugh, why am I not watching Zaga the Exterminating Angel right now? 🙂

Zaga the Exterminating Angel is—honestly—just a damn incredible movie; you really have to see it. 🙏 🙏

Belle de Jour - "Beauty Day" is my absolute favorite...

It stands as one of Buñuel's finest works...

The subconscious, unconventional sexual inclinations, BDSM, masochism, gender dynamics, and Catherine Deneuve at the peak of her powers. 😎

Regarding his films in general, one requires an incredibly vast education and significant life experience to truly grasp them, but above all, an Open Mind. 😁 He put everything onto celluloid... Symbols scream from every single frame.

But not everyone knows how to recognize them... 😁

Look, I suppose—if I'm being honest—it's highly likely even you didn't fully grasp every single one of his films 100% 🙂

I never actually said I did.

I merely suggested that his films might feel tedious if one only watches them on a surface level. There are flashes of pure genius and subtle messages buried within them...

true, true 🙏 🙏

The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie is easily his best film.

Just knocked out three more of them

- "Simon from the Desert" - super interesting stuff. Deeply symbolic and totally Bunuelian
- "Angel of Destruction" - absolute genius. Honestly, one of my all-time favorites. Pure Bunuelian magic
- "That's Called Dawn" - total skip. It was just... fine, I guess. Simple plot, predictable ending, way too many long shots, nothing special about the direction... definitely not a Bunuelian vibe

But hey, they were worth the watch.
Now we're skipping the Iranian film cycle and jumping straight back into Bunuel.

Anyone else catch these?
Let me know what you thought!

Has anyone else seen a Bunuel film where most of the action takes place in some villa's garden? It had such a surreal, fantasy vibe to it... I couldn't quite wrap my head around the ending—was the house haunted or something? I caught it on one of those satellite channels. Does anyone know the title? I think it’s quite an old one...

Linda Gray76 said:Has anyone else seen a Bunuel film where most of the action takes place in some villa's garden? It had such a surreal, fantasy vibe to it... I couldn't quite wrap my head around the ending—was the house haunted or something? I caught it on one of those satellite channels. Does anyone know the title? I think it’s quite an old one...

The big party in the movie "Golden Age" takes place in a villa garden, but that's just during the last 15 minutes. That's when I woke up, so honestly, you wouldn't even be able to tell if the whole movie actually happens in a garden or not.

By the way, there’s this scene at the end where the guy starts tossing everything he finds—and I mean *everything*—right out the window into a fire burning in the street. It's pure surrealism. He's throwing wardrobes, bishops, all sorts of stuff, and then suddenly he tosses a giraffe. Just when you think it might be an allusion to Dalí's "Giraffe in Flames"—since Dalí co-wrote it—the damn giraffe just falls into the water.
Think about that.

Amanda Nguyen5 said:The big party in the movie "Golden Age" takes place in a villa garden, but that's just during the last 15 minutes. That's when I woke up, so honestly, you wouldn't even be able to tell if the whole movie actually happens in a garden or not.

By the way, there’s this scene at the end where the guy starts tossing everything he finds—and I mean *everything*—right out the window into a fire burning in the street. It's pure surrealism. He's throwing wardrobes, bishops, all sorts of stuff, and then suddenly he tosses a giraffe. Just when you think it might be an allusion to Dalí's "Giraffe in Flames"—since Dalí co-wrote it—the damn giraffe just falls into the water.
Think about that.

The final scene in Golden Age is actually a nod to Sade's 120 Days of Sodom, not whatever you're thinking—you clearly drifted off again. Look, I wouldn't be nitpicking if it didn't matter.
I haven't figured out if they're showing Los Olvidados yet. Total bummer if they don't, since that's easily one of his best—top 3 for me, right up there with Viridian and Angel of Destruction.

Dennis Martin6 said:The final scene in Golden Age is actually a nod to Sade's 120 Days of Sodom, not whatever you're thinking—you clearly drifted off again. Look, I wouldn't be nitpicking if it didn't matter.
I haven't figured out if they're showing Los Olvidados yet. Total bummer if they don't, since that's easily one of his best—top 3 for me, right up there with Viridian and Angel of Destruction.

Yep, you nailed it.
Jesus walks out of some brothel, followed by those guys.
The part I was talking about happens just a few scenes before that.
If I haven't botched my memory of the movie, it really shouldn't matter if the action happens 15 minutes before the end or just 2 minutes before the end.

Personally, my absolute favorite has to be Le fantome de la liberte.🙏 🙏 🙏
I also really enjoy
Charme discret de la burgeoisie
The Milky Way
and Tristan la
Death in this Garden isn't actually any good, I just happen to love it anyway😍

Good grief, did nobody even mention "That Obscure Object of Desire"? 🙂

I have to say, Bunuel earns my skeptical eyebrow raise because he spent most of his career basically trolling his own audience. He’d think one thing, shoot something else, and then hand the public a complete bait-and-switch. The man was a total con artist—though I suppose that’s just part of the surrealist charm, isn't it? A little bit of smoke and mirrors to make sure you end up projecting your own intentions onto the screen.

Take that movie mentioned above, for example: you've got two different actresses systematically playing the exact same female lead. Then there's the male lead wandering around randomly carrying a burlap sack. Or the dwarf playing a psychiatrist... I could go on. And just when you think you've finally cracked the code and pieced together why everything is happening, you read somewhere that he actually never had any hidden agenda or deep symbolic motive at all. When faced with a question about his heavy-handed symbolism, he just plays coy, like a fox hiding in a thicket, acting as if he has no idea what anyone is talking about. 😎

Anyway, I absolutely love Angel of Destruction and Beauty Day. I'm just not a huge fan of Bunuelian destructive cinematography, especially in that first one.

Kevin Scott37 said:Personally, my absolute favorite has to be Le fantome de la liberte.🙏 🙏 🙏
I also really enjoy
Charme discret de la burgeoisie
The Milky Way
and Tristan la
Death in this Garden isn't actually any good, I just happen to love it anyway😍

What's the plot of that movie 'Death in this Garden'? I'm not sure if it's the one I was looking for in my previous post.

I think I caught almost everything worth seeing—the major features, anyway—during that massive binge I went on over a decade ago... but somehow, I missed Golden Age.
I really dug Angel of Destruction, Tristan la, Viridiana, and that subtle Charm... but Golden Age? It’s just way too surreal for me. Plus, trying to follow along with those audio commentaries explaining every little scene and plot point was honestly exhausting and pretty boring.
Thank God it's only 62 minutes long.

I'll be honest... I just don't go hunting for expressionism or surrealism in movies anymore. Especially not in that specific era when things were transitioning from silent films to talkies.
5/10
Anyway, thanks, gotta run.

Bella de Joure is such a killer movie. Honestly, Catherine is just incredibly hot in it.

And you can't talk about cinema without mentioning how Andalusian Dog is a total masterpiece... 👍

🤣