El

1953 drama

Rating: 17/20

Plot: Immediately after marrying a woman whom he believes is the one for him, Francisco becomes absurdly jealous.

I accidentally watched two movies from 1953 in a row! How about that?

This is wickedly funny, and Bunuel's got his usual targets--well-to-do white folk and the church. I'm wondering what exactly he is saying about the latter here. Francisco has a connection to the church with no obvious personal spirituality or any relationship to a deity, and the church certainly supports him. The conclusion of the story has him in a place where he connected to the church, but right before that, he has what can only be seen as a pretty terrible experience in a church. And there's another troubling moment in a bell tower.

Of course, the church is where he first gets a glimpse of those feet. And it's love at first sight of those feet! I'm not sure what the Bible says about lusting after a woman's feet in church. God made women's feet, however, so maybe he'd be cool with it.

I love how over-the-top Fernando Rey (excuse me--Arturo de Cordova, though it might as well be Rey) plays the emotions of this character. Somehow, the exaggerated performance matches the absurdity of this cat's emotions.

I need to become a Luis Bunuel completist. I'm not sure why I haven't seen everything he's done yet.