Luis Bunuel

Don Luis Buñuel (1900-1983) as intimately portrayed by his friends (Carlos Saura, Jean-Claude Carrière) and actors (Michel Piccoli, Carole Bouquet). Libertarian, subversive, deeply affected by the cruelty and violence of the world, despising jargon and psychology, fond of jokes: such was Luis Buñuel, a towering – and unclassifiable – filmmaker. He left behind over thirty films exploring such themes as cruelty, fetishism, desire and sexual frustration, the bourgeoisie, class struggle, religion, Surrealism, the power of the imagination, along with an autobiography and a few interviews, which form the framework of this portrait.

The best known film of Buñuel's Mexican period, LOS OLVIDADOS looks unflinchingly at life in a Mexican slum. At the center of the story are Pedro, a young boy who is walking the line between delinquency and responsibility, and Jaibo, an older, charismatic boy who has already chosen the former path. Jaibo exerts his influence over almost every boy in the village, and when he accidentally murders the only good role model Pedro has and sleeps with Pedro's mother, it seems the path Pedro is to take has already determined itself. Full of offbeat images and symbolism, Buñuel mixes realism and surrealism in what became something of a trademark style for him, but the only other film Buñuel did that compares to the realism in this film is his documentary LAND WITHOUT BREAD. Like the Italian neo-realists, Buñuel used mostly non-professional actors and shot entirely on location. Constricted by a tight budget, Buñuel was not able to include a couple of surreal sequences he had originally conceived, but this is still one of Buñuel's most powerful films. Features the famous dream sequence where Pedro's mother floats after him with a raw piece of meat.

An exquisite tale of self-discovery and tragic passion, Luis Bunuel's Golden Lion Award-winning drama chronicles a French housewife's awakening passions as she spends her days living out her fantasies in a brothel and her nights in the arms of her loving husband. Based on Joseph Kessel's 1928 novel, this acclaimed film had been unseen in the U.S. since the 1970's. (Optimum Releasing)

The year is 1659. There is a shipwreck and the sole survivor Robinson Crusoe is washed ashore on a deserted tropical island. Suddenly faced with a hostile and unknown wilderness, he carves out a life for himself with his bare hands. And remarkably, he learns how to survive the maddening absence of human companionship and intense loneliness. Based on Daniel Defoe's immortal classic it is a story about the human spirit's ability to endure what seem insurmountable challenges.

"Der diskrete Charme der Bourgeoisie" - Erbarmungslos verspottet Bunuel in diesem Film das Großbürgertum und führt uns von einem Fiasko ins andere.
"Das Gespenst der Freiheit" - Stärker als in anderen Spätwerken greift Bunuel hier auf seine surrealistischen Ursprünge zurück.
"Dieses obskure Objekt der Begierde" - Die Geschichte einer "amour fou", der ausweglosen Liebe eines alternden Mannes zu einem 18-jährigen Hausmädchen - das ist das indiskrete Thema von Bunuels letztem Film.

For a director like Luis Bunuel,this is a holding pattern movie.Bunuel is neither Costa Gavras nor Alan J Pakula and his political plot falls short of its goal.What's definitely lacking here is madness,the surrealism,almost present at least in one sequence,dear to the great Spanish artist.His art becomes ineffective when it deals with pure drama.The irony seems tamed,subdued.Maria Felix's part is sometimes some kind of Maupassant's "Boule de suif" (a character from the nineteenth century),sometimes some kind of thirties Marlene Dietrich (Sternberg's "dishonored").In a nutshell,originality is not this character's forte.Gerard Philipe (sadly,soon to die from cancer)is miscast and ill-at -ease ,in his part of "intellectual trying to sweeten the dictature".Nevertheless,he ended his career with something more commendable than the disastrous Vadim's "les liaisons dangereuses".