Luis Buñuel

[kinjitsu]

Luis Buñuel (1900-1983)



Liberty is a phantom. I've thought about that
sincerely and I believe it. Freedom is no more
than a ghost of mist. Man can seek it out, even
believe he has grasped it... and in the end he is
left with only fleeting bits of mist in his hands.


Fimography

Un chien andalou (1929) BFI (R2) Editions Montparnasse (R2) Transflux (R1)

Eating Sea Urchins (1930)

L'Age d'or (1930) BFI (R2) Kino (R1)

Tiera sin pan / Las Hurdes / Land Without Bread (1932) Films sans Frontieres R0

Don Quintin el amargao / The Bitter Mr Quintin (1935) (uncredited w/Luis Marquina)

La hija de Juan Simon (1935) (uncredited - various)

¡Centinela, alerta! (1936) (uncredited - w/Jean Gremillon)

Espagne (1937) co-writer/producer

Triumph of the Will (1941) montage created from documentaries by Rifenstahl and Bertram (Feldzug in Polen)

The Beast with Five Fingers (1946) wrote library scene (uncredited)

Gran Casino / En el viejo Tampico (1946) Lionsgate (R1) Studio Canal (R2)

El Gran Calavera / The Great Madcap (1949) Alter Films (R1/4) Gaumont (R2) Studio Canal (R2) Yume (R2)

Los Olvidados / The Young and the Damned (1950) Alter Films (R1/4) BFI (R2) Cine Club (R2) Films Sans Frontieres (R0)

Susana (1951) Facets Cinemateca (R1) Films Sans Frontieres (R2)

Si usted no puede, yo si (1950) contributed to screenplay (uncredited)

La Hija del engano / Daughter of Deceit (1951) Alter Films (R1/4)

Una Mujer sin amor / A Woman Without Love (1952) Facets Cinemateca (R1)

Subida al cielo / Ascent To Heaven (1951) Alter Films (R1/4) Films Sans Frontieres (R2) Gaumont (R2) Yume (R2)

El Bruto / The Brute (1952) Facets Cinemateca (R1) Films Sans Frontieres (R2)

The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (1952) VCI (R1)

El / This Strange Passion (1953) Cine Club (R2) Films Sans Frontieres (R2)

Abismos de pasion / Wuthering Heights (1953) Films Sans Frontiers (R2)

La Ilusion viaja en tranvi­a / Illusion Takes the Streetcar (1953) Alter Films (R1/4)

El rio y la muerte / The River and Death (1954) Alter Films (R1/4) Gaumont (R2)

Ensayo de un Crimen / The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz (1955) Cine Club (R2) Films Sans Frontieres (R2)

Cela s'appelle l'aurore / Men Call It Dawn (1955) Rene Chateau (R2)

La Mort en ce jardin / Death in the Garden (1956)

Nazari­n (1958) Alter Films (R1/4) Yume (R2)

La fievre monte a El Pao / Republic of Sin (1959)

La Joven / The Young One (1960) Lionsgate (R1) Manga (R2) Optimum (R2) Studio Canal (R2)

Viridiana (1961) Arrow (R2) Criterion (R1) Films Sans Frontieres (R2)

El Angel exterminador / The Exterminating Angel (1962) Arrow (R2) Criterion (R1)

Le Journal d'une femme de chambre / Diary of a Chambermaid (1964) Criterion (R1) Studio Canal (R2)

Simon del desierto / Simon of the Desert (1965) Criterion (R1)

Belle de jour (1966) BFI (R2) Optimum (R2) Studio Canal (R2)

La Voie lactee / The Milky Way (1969) Arrow (R2) Criterion (R1) Optimum (R2) Studio Canal (R2)

Tristana (1970) Optimum (R2) BFI (R2) Studio Canal (R2)

Le Charme discret de la bourgeoisie / The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972) Criterion (R1) Optimum (R2) Studio Canal (R2)

Le Fantome de la liberte / The Phantom of Liberty (1974) Criterion (R1) Optimum (R2) Studio Canal (R2)

Cet obscur objet du desir / That Obscure Object of Desire (1977) Criterion (R1) Optimum (R2) Studio Canal (R2)


Forum Discussions

BFI: L'Age d'or and Un chien andalou

Diary of a Chambermaid (Criterion)

The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (Criterion)

The Exterminating Angel (Criterion)

Luis Buñuel: coleccion de dos peliculas sin subti­tulos

Lionsgate: Luis Buñuel Collection

Luis Buñuel on DVD

The Milky Way (Criterion)

Optimum: The Luis Buñuel Collection

The Phantom of Liberty (Criterion)

Screen Captures: Luis Buñuel Collection (Optimum)

Simon of the Desert (Criterion)

That Obscure Object of Desire (Criterion)

Viridiana (Criterion)


Internet Resources

Buñuel, 100 anos (in Spanish)

Centenario de Luis Buñuel (in Spanish)

Cruelty and Love in Los Olividados - Andre Bazin (What is Cinema? 1967)

Easy Striders: The Milky Way - Mark Polizzotti (Criterion essay)

Diary of a Chambermaid - Michael Atkinson (Criterion essay)

The Discreet Charm of Buñuel - Carlos Fuentes (New York Times, March, 1973)

The Human Comedy: Viridiana - Michael Wood (Criterion essay)

Luis Buñuel - Dominique Russell (Senses of Cinema)

Luis Buñuel - Five Films - Acquarello (Strictly Film School)

Luis Buñuel Remembered - Jean-Claude Carriere (Flickhead)

The Perfect Martini - Luis Buñuel (from My Last Sigh)

That Obscure Object of Desire - William Rothman (Criterion essay)

The Serpentine Movements of Chance: The Phantom of Liberty - Gary Indiana (Criterion essay)


Publications

An Unspeakable Betrayal: Selected Writings of Luis Buñuel - Garrett White, translator (University of California Press, 2000)

Buñuel - John Baxter (Da Capo Press, 1999)

Buñuel and Mexico: The Crisis of National Cinema - Ernesto R. Acevedo-Munoz (University of California Press, 2003)

Buñuel, siglo XXI - Isabel Santaolalla et al, editors (Zaragoza: Prensas Universitarias, 2004)

The Discreet Art of Luis Buñuel: A Reading of His Films - Gwynne Edwards (Marion Boyars Publishers, 1991)

The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie - Marsha Kinder, editor (Cambridge University Press, 2005)

The Films of Luis Buñuel: Subjectivity and Desire - Peter William Evans (Oxford University Press, 1995)

Luis Buñuel - Raymond Durgnat (University of California Press, 1978)

Luis Buñuel: New Readings - Isabel Santaolalla and Peter William Evans (British Film Institute, 2008)

Luis Buñuel - Bill Krohn, Paul Duncan, editor (Taschen, 2005)

Los Olvidados - Mark Polizzotti (BFI Film Classics, 2006)

My Last Sigh - Luis Buñuel with Jean-Claude Carriere (University of Minnesota Press, 2003)

Objects of Desire: Conversations with Luis Buñuel - Jose de la Colina and Tomas Perez Turrent, Paul Lenti, editor/translator (Marsilio, 1992)
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

[GringoTex]

Caught Susana for the first time. I'll call it hacienda noir. The normally sunny ranch is stricken by chiaroscuro lighting as Satan descends in the form of a hot Latin slut. It's a vicious, hilarious attack on all things sacredly Mexican. I'm now figuring Bunuel has more masterpieces to his credit than any director I know of.



Just got back yesterday from a ten-day trip to El Salvador doing business management consulting for a children's home there, and then I watched this tonight. If I believed life imitated art, I'd condemn Bunuel for singlehandedly inventing the misery of childhood. The shot where the kid smashes the hen's egg on the camera lens is the greatest act of rebellion in all of cinema.

[GringoTex]

David- I saw Las Hurdes 13 years ago as a young 'un and it remains picture perfect in my mind as a perfect excercise in form. Now that I'm more experienced, I want to go back and watch it on the Films san Frontieres disc that I watched Olvidados on tonight (btw- it's a very acceptable image for anyone tired of waiting for an American release and can be found on ebay for a reasonable price) but I'm also afraid to ruin that perfection, though I shouldn't be, because Bunuel can only get better with age, right?

I think it was Bill Krohn who said that Las Hurdes (and not Chien Andalou or L'Age D'or) is the keystone of Bunuel's work. I believe Bunuel's Mexican period bears this out (and it was you, David, who lead me to seek out the Mexi films I hadn't seen with your praise of Subida al Cielo, so thanks). As much as his intercontinental films are concerned with the oppressors, his Mexican films are concerned with the oppressed.

In the past few months I've seen for the first time Subida al Cielo, Susana, Gran Casino, Illusion Viaja in Tranivia, and Mujer sin Amor; as well as revisited El Bruto and Los Olvidados, and I'm left with the impression that Bunuel's body of work is only matched by Ford's.

There's a rumor that Bunuel embraced religion in his later life, and if true, I can only imagine that it was not Bunuel who changed his mind about God, but God who changed his mind about Bunuel. So to paraphrase Truffaut's line about Ford: "Since God believes in Bunuel, Bunuel bless God."

[bunuelian]

Having read quite a bit about Bunuel, I feel it's necessary to separate his hatred of the Catholic establishment from his attitude about religion in general. His works' blasphemous elements were intended to offend, as much as possible, conservative Catholicism. There is plenty of room for him to have believed in God his entire life, even if he rejected Catholicism.

[justeleblanc]

Having read quite a bit about Bunuel, I feel it's necessary to separate his hatred of the Catholic establishment from his attitude about religion in general. His works' blasphemous elements were intended to offend, as much as possible, conservative Catholicism. There is plenty of room for him to have believed in God his entire life, even if he rejected Catholicism.

Nazarin would be a perfect example.

[Michael Kerpan]

I don't see his films as indicating a belief in God -- but they do show a respect for genuinely religious individuals, who try to do good -- even though Bunuel doubted that such religiously-inspired individual good works could accomplish much good in the long run.

[bunuelian]

I am only concerned that we overemphasize all the aspects of Surrealist dogma, like de Sade, when we try to understand Bunuel the man. So much of the Bunuel story is mere legend (much of it created by him), it's hard to separate fact from devious farce. For example, how much of the Viridiana story are we to believe? Did Juan Luis really smuggle the original negatives out of France on the back of a horse-drawn wagon, covered with bull fighting equipment, or did Bunuel just make this up to give the story a fanciful ending (and Juan Luis carried it on)? It's hard to know these concrete things, let alone Bunuel's personal attitude about issues like "does God exist?"

Perhaps he was a true atheist. Or, perhaps the political and cultural rebelliousness within him found a perfect match in the absolute radicalism of public atheism, something to ensure that the establishment would have no viable way to co-opt his work.

In "My Last Sigh" he speaks of gaining passage through anarchist checkpoints during the civil war by proclaiming, "I piss on God." (Or is it "spit?" I've forgotten exactly.) It was a sign that he was not aligned with the fascist Church. Was it also a sign that he in fact didn't believe in some sort of God? It's an erroneous leap to attach the political and social dimensions of his carefully crafted public persona to his personal life. Above all else, Bunuel was a master of his public image.

A point to be considered is the definition of "atheist" here. I don't think an "atheist" is one who says, "Fuck you, God!" Rather, it's someone who lacks a belief in a deity. De Sade's heroes spend a lot of time and energy laughing in God's face. If there is no God to them, why would they waste so much time with it? To me, these people are rebelling against the system, but they are doing so within a theistic framework. If there truly were no God in their world view, they'd find nothing of value in all their blasphemies. Naturally, de Sade's work was not just about individuals' beliefs but also a concrete act of social rebellion, and this is the aspect that the Surrealists respect.

With the notion of atheism as an absence of belief in mind, I don't find the absence of a God in his films at all incompatible with a belief in a God. His films are inconsistent with the notion of a compassionate and intervening God, which of course is the great middle finger he's giving to the Church.

It's a very complex question, trying to understand Bunuel the man based on his work. None of his films are deeply personal. They are calculated fictions that pull the rug out from under established expectations. It's a lot harder to garner something about Bunuel the man from his films than it is from the works of Bergman, Bresson, or Tarkovsky, for example.

I'm an atheist, so I'm not on a mission to prove that he was not an atheist. Personally, I find the question fairly irrelevant to our understanding of him. But that's probably because I don't see atheism as a radical idea at all, or theistic belief all that central to a person's character. Someone can profess a belief in God but not have it impact their lives at all (see much of Western civilization). An indifference to God is not the same as a denial of God.

[GringoTex]

Celebrated Cinco de Mayo tonight with La ilusion viaja en tranvia (Bunuel's valentine to Mexico City) and a 12-pack of Tecate. I love this film more every time I see it. It has no dramatic arc to speak of (prefiguring his french trilogy), so familiarity breeds its own little climaxes.

[razumovsky]

This 1964 episode of Cineastes de notre temps has surfaced - fantastic footage of Don Luis. He's obviously not the easiest interviewee, but his charm is evident.

This seems to have been posted by the Office de Redifussion Television Francaise, which at least sounds official. It certainly seems complete, and it well-subtitled.

[Gregory]

I believe it's the same version Criterion included on Viridiana, which was edited down. IMDb lists the episode's runtime as 45 min.

[lacritfan]

Can someone recommend a book on Bunuel's films akin to Everything Is Cinema is to Godard? I'd like to be able to follow his filmography chronologically, read a chapter on a film and then see it.

[Gregory]

Durgnat's Luis Bunuel. The revised and expanded edition that I have is from '77 and goes up through Phantom of Liberty.

[mbajic]

I would recommend Conversations with Luis Bunuel. It's a Q and A sort of book and really interesting, taken near the end of his life when he had already made That obscure Object of Desire. His points of views and anecdotes are all hilarious and funky, just like his films. . Reading it, you feel like you're sitting on a chair opposite and listening to a down-right fascinating man. Great stuff.

[bunuelian]

I seem to recall enjoying the Arranda book, but it's been a long time since I've read it. Books about Bunuel are often hit-or-miss, in part because it's clear that everyone was caught up in the self-made legend he perpetuated. My Last Sigh is compulsory, of course.

Avoid the Baxter biography.

[lacritfan]

Thanks for all the recommendations.

[barryconvex]

this is slightly late...

[Trees]

I was led to Nazarín by Tarkovsky's top ten list. Obviously, Tarkovsky did not seem to have an issue with Buñuel's take on religion, at least in terms of this one picture.

So much of the charm of this film comes from the priest's incredible faith. Yes, Buñuel does seem to perhaps view Christianity's core teachings as being irreconcilable with modern societies. The priest follows Jesus' teachings about as closely as possible, but finds mostly calamity.

[Trees]

I'm curious what the feelings are around here about Buñuel. He seems like a crazy character. Is most of the conversation about him here fragmented into threads about his various films?

[domino harvey]

A cursory search shows over 1700 posts on this forum about Bunuel. So yes, he's come up before

[Trees]

what do you think of him, domino?

[whaleallright]

Nice guy, don't know if I'd trust him with my children.

[swo17]

Why wouldn't you trust domino with your children?

[Trees]

:-k

[swo17]

It's called surrealism.

[domino harvey]

Tarkovsky was once quoted as having heard of it (I like Bunuel quite a bit)