FILM
The Amazing Luis Buñuel
"Sex without religion is like cooking an egg without salt. Sin gives more chances to desire."
Luis Buñuel was born in Spain in 1900. During his career as "the father of surrealist cinema" he made films in Spain, France, the United States and Mexico. His amazing and large body of French, English, and Spanish language films were plagued by censorship and controversy every step of the way.
He moved to France in 1925 and made "Un chien andalou" with Salvador Dali. He then moved to revolutionary Spain to make movies about the changes taking place in his native land. As the Spanish Civil War looked to be a victorious for the Franco and the fascists he fled to the America. He continued to make films in Hollywood until the Red Scare began a witch hunt of intellectuals and film makers with leftist leanings. His next flight from persecution took him to Mexico in 1946. He spent the latter part of his life travelling between Mexico, the United States and France. He died in Mexico City in 1983.
The following three films made by Bunuel were described by him as a trilogy that embody the main themes of his work; religious hypocrisy, surrealism, sex, upper class vapidness and bizarre symbolism.
The Milky Way (1969)
In the film, two men travel the ancient pilgrimage road to Santiago de Compostela and meet embodiments of various Catholic heresies along the way. These religious events are based on actual historical documents. For instance, the archbishop whose corpse is exhumed and publicly burned is based on Archbishop Carranza of Toledo. The film ends with the following text:
"Everything in this film concerning the Catholic religion and the heresies it has provoked, especially from the dogmatic point of view, is rigorously exact. The texts and citations are taken either direct from Scripture, or modern and ancient works on theology and ecclesiastical history." wikipedia
Luis Buñuel was born in Spain in 1900. During his career as "the father of surrealist cinema" he made films in Spain, France, the United States and Mexico. His amazing and large body of French, English, and Spanish language films were plagued by censorship and controversy every step of the way.
He moved to France in 1925 and made "Un chien andalou" with Salvador Dali. He then moved to revolutionary Spain to make movies about the changes taking place in his native land. As the Spanish Civil War looked to be a victorious for the Franco and the fascists he fled to the America. He continued to make films in Hollywood until the Red Scare began a witch hunt of intellectuals and film makers with leftist leanings. His next flight from persecution took him to Mexico in 1946. He spent the latter part of his life travelling between Mexico, the United States and France. He died in Mexico City in 1983.
The following three films made by Bunuel were described by him as a trilogy that embody the main themes of his work; religious hypocrisy, surrealism, sex, upper class vapidness and bizarre symbolism.
The Milky Way (1969)
In the film, two men travel the ancient pilgrimage road to Santiago de Compostela and meet embodiments of various Catholic heresies along the way. These religious events are based on actual historical documents. For instance, the archbishop whose corpse is exhumed and publicly burned is based on Archbishop Carranza of Toledo. The film ends with the following text:
"Everything in this film concerning the Catholic religion and the heresies it has provoked, especially from the dogmatic point of view, is rigorously exact. The texts and citations are taken either direct from Scripture, or modern and ancient works on theology and ecclesiastical history." wikipedia
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972)
A surrealist film directed by Luis Buñuel and written by Jean-Claude Carrière in collaboration with the director.The film was made in France and is mainly in French, with some dialogue in Spanish.
The film concerns a group of upper class people attempting — despite continual interruptions — to dine together. The film received the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and a nomination for Best Original Screenplay.
A satire on social mores and class hypocrisy that takes place in a very dark, funny, bizarre and sexually dysfunctional middle class setting.
The Phantom of Liberty (1974)
Bourgeois convention is demolished in Luis Bunuel’s surrealist gem. Featuring an elegant soiree with guests seated at toilet bowls, poker-playing monks using religious medals as chips, and police officers looking for a missing girl who is right under their noses, this perverse, playfully absurd comedy of non sequiturs deftly compiles many of the themes that preoccupied Bunuel throughout his career – from the hypocrisy of conventional morality to the arbitrariness of social arrangements.
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