Post by Boz on Jul 22, 2006 13:28:38 GMT
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
Luis Buñuel 1972
This film tells the story of six bourgeoisie French citizens who attempt to sit down and have a meal together. They are constantly delayed by various interruptions, which become increasingly surreal and absurd as time passes. After a while, it is revealed that reality is not what it may seem and all that we are seeing may be occuring in a dream. I was eagerly looking forward to viewing this film due to its supposed surrealistic nature. I recently rented and greatly enjoyed the masterpiece that is Last Year at Marienbad, Alain Resnais 1961 film of the same, dream-like style. That film, to me, seemed to be the perfect embodiment of the typical weird, non-sensical, foreign film with its meaning buried beneath layers of distorted realities, dreams, and fantasies. Needless to say, this film had a lot to live up to.
The first thing to notice here is the bland style in which the film is shot. While some of the darker, nightmare scenes worked well, overall the film looked exactly like an episode of Happy Days, with its totally unrealistic studio lighting and Buñuel's decision to film it mostly all from one angle, like on a TV set. Despite my complaints with the technical aspects of the film, I still figured I might be able to appreciate the story and what Buñuel had to say. But sadly, I didn't quite enjoy this either. While Buñuel was able to present oppurtunities for some interesting symbolism by introducing characters from the army, the church, terrorist groups, and the lower class, I ultimately felt as though none of these metaphors were really explored and any satirical commentary they were supposed to provide was lost to me. I couldn't help but feel that without knowing the title of the film and taking its literal meaning, I really would have never been able to distinguish Buñuel's creation as a satire or perhaps even a surrealist film. And while Buñuel was able to provide some thought-provoking images here and there, their meaning felt unclear and any significance lost among the multiple dream-within-a-dream type sequences, which didn't prove to be as innovative as they may sound. Overall, a muddled surrealistic satire that didn't look or feel like a surrealistic satire.
Luis Buñuel 1972
This film tells the story of six bourgeoisie French citizens who attempt to sit down and have a meal together. They are constantly delayed by various interruptions, which become increasingly surreal and absurd as time passes. After a while, it is revealed that reality is not what it may seem and all that we are seeing may be occuring in a dream. I was eagerly looking forward to viewing this film due to its supposed surrealistic nature. I recently rented and greatly enjoyed the masterpiece that is Last Year at Marienbad, Alain Resnais 1961 film of the same, dream-like style. That film, to me, seemed to be the perfect embodiment of the typical weird, non-sensical, foreign film with its meaning buried beneath layers of distorted realities, dreams, and fantasies. Needless to say, this film had a lot to live up to.
The first thing to notice here is the bland style in which the film is shot. While some of the darker, nightmare scenes worked well, overall the film looked exactly like an episode of Happy Days, with its totally unrealistic studio lighting and Buñuel's decision to film it mostly all from one angle, like on a TV set. Despite my complaints with the technical aspects of the film, I still figured I might be able to appreciate the story and what Buñuel had to say. But sadly, I didn't quite enjoy this either. While Buñuel was able to present oppurtunities for some interesting symbolism by introducing characters from the army, the church, terrorist groups, and the lower class, I ultimately felt as though none of these metaphors were really explored and any satirical commentary they were supposed to provide was lost to me. I couldn't help but feel that without knowing the title of the film and taking its literal meaning, I really would have never been able to distinguish Buñuel's creation as a satire or perhaps even a surrealist film. And while Buñuel was able to provide some thought-provoking images here and there, their meaning felt unclear and any significance lost among the multiple dream-within-a-dream type sequences, which didn't prove to be as innovative as they may sound. Overall, a muddled surrealistic satire that didn't look or feel like a surrealistic satire.