When asked why he made movies, Luis Bunuel answered, "...to show that this is not the best of all possible worlds." Pondering this quote, I think of Voltaire's Candide, the satirization of proper society and manners, and the luxury of dream logic.
Humanities curriculum: Mr. Accardi, the Cleveland High School Art History instructor, screened Un Chien Andalou for a classroom full of egg-headed near-geniuses. I sat among them, as one of them, in the dark, entranced. The name of Salvador Dali rang a large bell between my ears. A razor blade slid against the rheumy curve of a woman's eyeball, slitting it in two, with a vision of the moon superimposed upon it. I made the connection between this iconic cinematic image and the lyrics to "Debaser" by The Pixies... my first Bunuelian epiphany.
As an adult in North Hollywood, barely an adult at least, pretending to be a man, I stayed up late one night as I was wont to do and saw The Exterminating Angel on PBS. Paulie and I were very stoned and he protested the movie because he didn't understand it. I didn't understand it either, but it was intriguing to watch, and the name Bunuel and the movement of Surrealism always opened doors in my consciousness whenever their syllables were pronounced. I came away from watching that movie with a deep impression left upon me. The party guests couldn't leave even if they tried, and when they finally made the break for it, they ended up in another cage...
Sherman Oaks--unlocked doors at night, isolation and space to breathe, free time squandered against the pursuit of leisure... My friend J from NYC asked me if I'd ever seen Belle Du Jour and when she mentioned Bunuel I jumped at the opportunity. Catherine Deneuve's face was positively beatific to behold, doleful sadness weeping from her lashes invisibly. The mysterious tinder box, the juxtapositions of the Belle's fantasy with reality, the man at the foot of the casket... I noticed that there was barely any music, and the action was slow but elegant. An enormously interesting film.
Yesterday I rented The Discreet Charm Of The Bourgeoisie from the library. I knew nothing about it except that it was Luis Bunuel, and the spine told me nothing other than cursory plot notes, the kind that serve only as departure points. Hilariously droll, refreshingly unimportant and yet making light of universal themes, despite the focus on six upper-class Europeans and their collective N-supply. Dreams within dreams beget realities within dreams and clash with objectivity... again, little or no music, and even more curious: deliberate obscuring of important dialogue, perhaps to keep the audience locked in the moment of watching a movie, the urgency of not being able to hear what is being heard, and in the credits I see that Bunuel mixed the sound effects himself... I can see why Hitchcock declared him his favorite film director. The colors, the pacing, the atmosphere, the sets, the actors toeing the line between playing it straight and straight-away playing. Stephane Audrane is gorgeous, urbane and witty in her role, a vacuous turn-on, the shallow arm of blistering beauty.
I still have to experience L'Age D'Or, That Obscure Object Of Desire and Tristiana, as well as other lesser-known films he made in his long career. I like the films of Luis Bunuel, because they are the kind of films that I wish I had the talent and guts to conceive, let alone create. They are unmistakably clever and affiliated with his Jester stance-- friendly pokes with sharp, steely daggers...
They all have subtitles.
1 comment:
yah! bunuel!
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