143 That Obscure Object of Desire

[Michael Kerpan]

And Matthieu was, in a sense, also doubled -- body by Fernando R, voice by Michel P. Has anyone ever heard a reason given for this?

[Mr Sausage]

The great thing about the two actresses is so many people never even noticed it - I will confess I definitely didn't when I saw this on first release in the seventies and I was already very familiar with Don Luis.

Not so surprising after you see this.

[Feego]

I watched this last night as a double feature with Josef von Sternberg's The Devil Is a Woman, and I found it to be quite an interesting experience. It was my first time seeing the Sternberg film, and it holds up surprisingly well along side Bunuel's film. Most intriguing was the fact that in the Sternberg version, Marlene Dietrich's Concha actually has several men masochistically suffering under her allure, not just one. The earlier film is also quite cynical in its own way, especially the ending (which, as I understand, the censors initially objected to).

Has anyone else seen The Devil Is a Woman? I recommend watching the films together.

[HistoryProf]

Out of Print as of June 30, 2010.

[j99]

Has anyone seen the Optimum Releasing version? My copy is in mono but it states it is in stereo on the sleeve. Was this generally the case or do I have a faulty copy?

[MichaelB]

I'd be astounded if the film was meant to be in stereo. Dolby Stereo had only just been introduced, and it certainly wasn't being applied to small-scale art movies at that time - in fact, I think Jerzy Skolimowski's The Shout was the first qualifying title, and that was made the following year. And there's an obvious artistic reason for The Shout to make use of Dolby, which absolutely doesn't apply to Obscure Object.

[antnield]

I've got Optimum's eight-disc Bunuel set with the slimline cases. My Obscure Desire says mono on the sleeve and is mono on the disc.

[j99]

You're both correct. Perhaps I should rephrase the question. I also have the 8 disc box set, however the sound of "Obscure Object" only comes out of one speaker and is the only disc to do so. I wondered if anyone else had the same problem?

[tojoed]

You're both correct. Perhaps I should rephrase the question. I also have the 8 disc box set, however the sound of "Obscure Object" only comes out of one speaker and is the only disc to do so. I wondered if anyone else had the same problem?

There were some faulty discs at the time of release and Optimum recalled them.
See this thread for more info on how to get a replacement.

[j99]

There were some faulty discs at the time of release and Optimum recalled them.
See this thread for more info on how to get a replacement.

Thanks for the link. I guess it's a bit late in the day to get a replacement but at least I now know the reason for the glitch.

[rohmerin]

The French dubbed version doesn't work for me at all. I've seen the Spanish version many years ago but I think it was better. Given that it's a co-production, but it was the Oscar contender I don't know why the French is always considered as the proper version.

[Jack Phillips]

The French dubbed version doesn't work for me at all.

Personally, I love hearing Michel Piccoli's voice coming out of Fernando Rey's mouth, but to each his own.