Personally, I'd mark the first film of Hitchcock's "late" period as Marnie, which I think is grebt. Not sure about Buñuel, tho. Everything from Viridiana on feels of a piece.
― Eric H., Saturday, 17 November 2007 23:49 (sixteen years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.
― ILX System, Sunday, 18 November 2007 00:01 (sixteen years ago) link
The Thousand Eyes of Dr. Mabuse was released in 1960 and that was it. But yeah, Alfred's inequality is pretty much otm.
― James Redd and the Blecchs, Sunday, 18 November 2007 00:06 (sixteen years ago) link
Two votes for Ensayo!
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Monday, 19 November 2007 03:16 (sixteen years ago) link
Why does that deserve an exclamation point? I might have voted for it and made it three.
― James Redd and the Blecchs, Monday, 19 November 2007 03:35 (sixteen years ago) link
It was not a predictable choice (I like it fine).
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Monday, 19 November 2007 03:48 (sixteen years ago) link
(xpost) But maybe I add a star for that one because of the backstory of Miroslava Stern having an affair with legendary bullfighter Luis Miguel Dominguin, about-to-be husband of Lucia Bosé, who herself appeared in a Buñuel film or two, and father of Miguel Bosé, who played the cross-dressing judge in Almodóvar's High Heels. Who I don't think is the same Dominguin who helped get Viridiana get made, but is the Dominguin who once said something like "I have over four hundred scars on my body, and every one bears the name of a woman."
― James Redd and the Blecchs, Monday, 19 November 2007 04:00 (sixteen years ago) link
Hm. Looks like he had something going with Ava Gardner too. Yet another reason to finally start reading that Lee Server bio, Love is Nothing.
Wow, I didn't know half the story of Miroslava. Wikipedia en español has the sad scoop, calling her "a Mexican Marilyn Monroe" and providing not one but two versions of her death, one a suicide, and one a complicated mysterious plane crash.
― James Redd and the Blecchs, Monday, 19 November 2007 04:31 (sixteen years ago) link
Re Lang, B-pictures like The Blue Gardenia are really pretty well done- by far the best of these is The Big Heat - but still not a patch on the pants of Spies, Mabuse, The Weary Death, etc.
― James Redd and the Blecchs, Monday, 19 November 2007 06:11 (sixteen years ago) link
No doubt it helped to have Mr. Nicholas Musuraca behind the camera.
― James Redd and the Blecchs, Monday, 19 November 2007 06:17 (sixteen years ago) link
Oh darnit. If I'd seen this I'd have voted Tristana, for the simple fact that he redeemed the elements of the Galdos novel that made me itchy. Novel is quite cool and proto-feminist but then virtually makes Tristana disappear in the end.
― Zoe Espera, Monday, 19 November 2007 08:20 (sixteen years ago) link
At long last: Simon of the Desert on DVD. I can throw away my secondhand VHS copy.
― The Screaming Lobster of Challops (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 17 February 2009 16:28 (fifteen years ago) link
The Discreet Charm is one of my 5 favourite films ever fwiw, but I only saw it long after this poll closed
― Mequophidiophobia: fear of the beer snake (country matters), Tuesday, 17 February 2009 16:30 (fifteen years ago) link
Have you seen "The Phantom of Liberty" yet?
― Vitbe Is Good Bread (Tom D.), Tuesday, 17 February 2009 16:31 (fifteen years ago) link
I've only seen Discreet Charm and Viridiana which are both awesome, the former more so.
― Mequophidiophobia: fear of the beer snake (country matters), Tuesday, 17 February 2009 16:33 (fifteen years ago) link
Go watch the Criterion prints of The Exterminating Angel and Simon of the Desert. Suffice to say, they've never looked better.
I gotta say: SOTD, one of my favorites, now looks minor: a very amusing one-joke movie (I can't see how it could have been any longer); but TEA is much better than I remembered (I remembered it as a slacker, poorly acted prototype for The Discreet Charm).
― The Screaming Lobster of Challops (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 27 February 2009 00:49 (fifteen years ago) link
just got the exterminating angel disc. one of my favourite movies of all time.
― s1ocki, Friday, 27 February 2009 01:23 (fifteen years ago) link
i have both but i think i prefer it to discreet charm... more focused, tighter. not sure if it's funnier tho.
― s1ocki, Friday, 27 February 2009 01:24 (fifteen years ago) link
btw my last sigh is really one of the great memoirs. must must read.
Yup. It's the sort of book I want to buy for every friend.
― The Screaming Lobster of Challops (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 27 February 2009 01:25 (fifteen years ago) link
If Simon is one-joke then the shorter running time doesn't exhaust it, but I disagree. The ending still dives off at this profound tangent that's probably the most moving sequence Bunuel ever made, for me. Anyway I need to get the official DVD, all I've got is an AVI at the moment.
― J.B. "Judas" Priestley (Noodle Vague), Friday, 27 February 2009 01:45 (fifteen years ago) link
Yeah, I disagree with Kael's dismissal of the ending -- it's a great party, and not at all the snarky gesture that Bunuel intended.
― The Screaming Lobster of Challops (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 27 February 2009 01:59 (fifteen years ago) link
Simon has a kind of "My God it's full of stars" look on his face at this point.
― J.B. "Judas" Priestley (Noodle Vague), Friday, 27 February 2009 02:02 (fifteen years ago) link
Then he's just uninterested and a bit sad. I don't think he's a figure of fun by then.
― J.B. "Judas" Priestley (Noodle Vague), Friday, 27 February 2009 02:09 (fifteen years ago) link
"I remembered it as a slacker, poorly acted prototype for The Discreet Charm."
Hmmmm, this is what I still think. May have to give it another go.
― Freedom, Friday, 27 February 2009 12:03 (fifteen years ago) link
Cheers Alfred! I'll track 'em down. :)
― bitch hooligan, pussy ass nobrain dårk (country matters), Friday, 27 February 2009 12:07 (fifteen years ago) link
I remember an interview with Dave "not A." Stewart, in which he was rating an early Bunuel film.
Although, the article had him praising the film "Large Door".
― Mark G, Friday, 27 February 2009 13:50 (fifteen years ago) link
(Actually that *was* "A", not "not A" after all, oh)
― Mark G, Friday, 27 February 2009 13:51 (fifteen years ago) link
That Obscure Object Of Desire has gone instantly into my all-time top 10, maybe 5. It is monumental.
― POLLonius (country matters), Thursday, 19 March 2009 18:51 (fifteen years ago) link
I mean, in its grand, assured, completely controlled efflorescence it feels like some sort of definitive work; every single last detail is so astonishingly observed. I chuckled to myself at its wry exquisiteness pretty much throughout. And that ending...oh, that ending.
I saw Belle De Jour last night as well and didn't think it was quite as good, despite some excellent fantasy-blurs-with-reality mindfucking.
― POLLonius (country matters), Thursday, 19 March 2009 18:55 (fifteen years ago) link
i've only seen Los Olvidados and Un Chien Andalou. Adored the former, was bored by the latter, and feel like I should see more since I gather neither is particularly representative of the oeuvre and obv. lots of praise for the man here and elsewhere.
― Blackout Crew are the Beatles of donk (jim), Thursday, 19 March 2009 18:55 (fifteen years ago) link
I'm not as fond -- the pace slackens in places -- my love for Bunuel's French films waxes and wanes. The Discreet Charm is unfuckwithable, though.
― The Screaming Lobster of Challops (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 19 March 2009 18:56 (fifteen years ago) link
*BUT my love for
― The Screaming Lobster of Challops (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 19 March 2009 18:57 (fifteen years ago) link
Agreed on Discreet Charm, but I'd place Obscure Object right alongside it. They're equivalents in epic frustration.
― POLLonius (country matters), Thursday, 19 March 2009 19:10 (fifteen years ago) link
After seeing this poll when it was revived a month ago, I got The Discreet Charm out of the library but when I watched it I was kinda sleepy and I was just dazed and confused trying to stay awake pay attention to what was going on. I think I liked it, maybe I should just watch it again.
― silly ho (a hoy hoy), Thursday, 19 March 2009 19:21 (fifteen years ago) link
Missed the poll, would have added a third vote to Belle de jour.
The Pixies review Un chien andalou:
Got me a movie, I want you to know.Slicing up eyeballs, I want you to know. Girlie so groovy, I want you to know.Don't know about you, but I am un chien andalusia...
Wanna grow up to be a debaser...
Got me a movie, ha-ha-ha-ho... Slicing up eyeballs, ha-ha-ha-ho...Girlie so groovie, ha-ha-ha-ho...Don't know about you, but I am un chien andalusia...
Debaser...
― Pete Scholtes, Thursday, 19 March 2009 20:28 (fifteen years ago) link
And it would have made a better video than anything the Pixies ever made. Wonder if anyone has ever synched them...?
― Pete Scholtes, Thursday, 19 March 2009 20:29 (fifteen years ago) link
Given the talk about Bunuel dbl bills above there are a couple of them at the Riverside Studios that look good: tomorrow its Discreet Charm... with Diary of a Chambermaid
― xyzzzz__, Saturday, 1 August 2009 18:23 (fourteen years ago) link
Weird, saw Obscure Object again tonight. Still my favourite film of all time. My friend thought it was interminably boring.
― One idiot even called me "redcoat" because I'm (country matters), Sunday, 2 August 2009 03:41 (fourteen years ago) link
The Phantom Of Liberty >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Monty Python's Meaning Of Life
(they're kinda pretty similar IMO)
― acoleuthic, Sunday, 4 April 2010 00:29 (fourteen years ago) link
ok I'm gonna rank the Bunuel I've seen - please dispute, suggest (ban) etc
That Obscure Object Of Desire (favourite film ever)The Discreet Charm Of The Bourgeoise (in personal top 5)The Exterminating Angel (in personal top 20)The Phantom Of Liberty (possibly in personal top 30 - it's really fucking arresting and GODDAMN funny)Viridiana (first one I saw! awesome)Belle De Jour (not as good as the other late-periods...he hadn't quite nailed his colour mastery or subject-matter...but still a marvellous film)Tristana (nice, mysterious, a bit forgettable, kinda haunting)L'Age D'Or (DO YOU SEE?!?!?!)Un Chien Andalou (DO YOU SEE?!?!?! except really short and kinda more a piece of video art than a film - an important one tho, and nice piano-dragging image)
basically he had a genius for injecting surrealism into film, but only slowly did he learn (starting really with The Exterminating Angel which is the best disaster movie ever) to inject that surrealism into a tangible depiction of reality, and only slowly did he grow to fully understand the human brain - his later works are as savage, light-footed and wry as anything committed to film - he is the greatest director to have lived IMO -
― acoleuthic, Sunday, 4 April 2010 00:40 (fourteen years ago) link
what did u love so much about The Discreet Charm Of The Bourgeoise? i never got too much out of his movies cept for Belle De Jour tbh. Un Chien Andalou has some arresting images but so what
― Michael B, Sunday, 4 April 2010 00:43 (fourteen years ago) link
I don't find L'Age d'Or DO YOU SEE?!?!?!?! at all. It'd be in my top 2 or 3, there are so many beautiful images and awesome gags in it. The opening 10-15 minutes is probably my favourite Buñuel, alongside the close of Simon del Desierto. The later movies are great but to my mind they're far more engaged in DYS-satire than L'Age d'Or, which just feels more thoroughly its own thing, a purer surrealism and blast of black humour.
Think you'd like The Milky Way a good deal, LJ, and everybody should see Simon given a chance - no region 2 DVD yet, bastards.
― Top Geir (Noodle Vague), Sunday, 4 April 2010 00:48 (fourteen years ago) link
Un Chien Andalou has some arresting images but so what
Think this hinges on "Are you down with Surrealists y/n?" tbh, and your tolerance for unorthodox narrative (not necessarily the absence of narrative).
― Top Geir (Noodle Vague), Sunday, 4 April 2010 00:51 (fourteen years ago) link
diary of a chambermaidviridianalos olvidadostristanathe exterminating angel
of those i've seen
― nakhchivan, Sunday, 4 April 2010 00:53 (fourteen years ago) link
TDCOTB is basically an airy breeze through the stately, unobtrusive ambitions of a bunch of well-to-do sorts (such as those who might work on or watch one of his movies), and how they are undercut at every turn by chance, flaw, error, being in a bad dream, or pure spite. They retain their dignity as best they can. They are shown at their most undignified, and yet they walk tall. The comedy is profound. You gotta trust me on this one. It's fucken profound. And it's made with such chutzpah...Bunuel's mastery of the deadpan situational twist is absolute by this point.
BDJ is a little more forced IMO, a little more contrived, although it has some fantastic ideas and images. TDCOTB does the whole 'fantasy/reality' dichotomy much more sublimely - they're not just one and the same but you're really not sure there's much of a dichotomy any more. This all culminates in the heatstroke of filmic gnosticism that is his final, absolute work - as feather-light and knowing a portrait of man as I've seen. :)
I need to see L'Age D'Or again! I saw it once and was a bit 'buhhhhh ok that's quite pointed' - it's still great but I felt it was very much based upon its iconoclasm - it was hitting rather than delicately imbibing. Nonetheless some images and segues are amazing - the violing getting kicked down the street is one of my favourite things
And yes, The Milky Way is very much on the agenda
― acoleuthic, Sunday, 4 April 2010 00:55 (fourteen years ago) link
as I've said before 'the very finest surrealism is perfectly logical to someone' and Bunuel understands this more and more as he goes on
i'm sketchy with bunuel & am gonna rent that obscure object on your sayso LJ. i will webmail you for a reimbursement if it's terrible.
ha ha, really? i mean it's not like you invest hours and get minimal return.
― Earning your Masters in Library and Information Science is beautiful (schlump), Sunday, 4 April 2010 00:57 (fourteen years ago) link
do so schlump! i will merely turn up at your house with a bucket of water
― acoleuthic, Sunday, 4 April 2010 01:05 (fourteen years ago) link