Belle de Jour

1967 fantasy

Rating: 17/20

Plot: The sexually aloof wife of a doctor decides to take an afternoon job at a brothel.

"Semen retentum venenum est." If I had that line in my arsenal growing up, I might have gotten laid before my 25th birthday.

Tarantino probably likes this movie because it's got a ton of shots of Catherine Deneuve's feet. That's not exactly why I like it. I like it because of its mystery. This movie blends the line between reality and fantasy, between the humdrummery of everyday life and the free-floating exuberance of a life of dreams. Bunuel, unsurprisingly, uses this woman's story to dick around with his audience's minds, and he's one of the best ever at doing that. And he's probably the best candidate to take us on a little tour of the titular whore's dream/reality mash-up. Bunuel certainly creates an interesting rhythm with her journey, and rhythmic sound effects--bells, a few clocks, an ambulance, waves--seem to suggest something, but it's that kind of something that's just out of reach. You know, like in a dream. Catherine Deneuve's classic pretty face is perfect for the character, and I don't know if it's something she does or just her basic shapes and tones, but she's got just the right of naughtiness mixed in with this innocence. I also liked Pierre Clementi as bad-boy Marcel, a guy who either has a grill or forgot to take off his Jaws (James Bond villain--not the shark) Halloween costume. Jean Sorel makes a good schmuck, and shady friend Husson is played shadily enough by Michel Piccoli. And there are a few whores to add a little bit of color. This is a more adult Bunuel for better or worse, one who is not at his most audaciously playful, but its poetic eroticism makes it float. And who can pass up a glance through a peephole into Deneuve's subconscious?

The Exterminating Angel

1962 comedy

Rating: 18/20

Plot: Some fancy-pants attend a dinner party. Afterwards, they are unable to leave. Things get desperate. Sheep enter the room, and later, there's a bear.

Subtle surreal shenanigans! This movie isn't uproariously funny, but there's a tone of humorous tension that I really like. Apparently, this was banned in the Soviet Union because the idea of characters unable to leave a party was considered anti-Communist. That's funny, too. It's casually surreal stuff, probably my favorite movie of one of my favorite directors. I like how the surreal touches--a woman with feathers and bird feet in her purse, the aforementioned animals, a scene with a hand--are things that none of the guests pay any attention to. I suppose there's a point there just like there's a point to all the repetition. Some of that repetition, like when characters say the exact same things or how the guests arrive at the party twice, almost seem like errors in editing. The cinematography is wonderful; the camera moves from person to person so fluidly during group conversations. There's a rhythm and choreography to the whole thing. Shots in mirrors of shoes being tied or apathetic faces are also cool. It all builds elegantly to a funny subversive and memorable punchline. I prefer this movie to its most likely companion--Bunuel's The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, a movie where characters also attempt to have dinner.

The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeouisie

1972 Bunuel comedy

Rating: 16/20 (Jen: 13/20)

Plot: Six snooty friends try unsuccessfully to have dinner together.

This isn't a hilarious comedy. It's sort of a comedy for people who think the typical Frasier episode is way too wild. It's more funny on an intellectual level, probably funnier for Bunuel himself than anybody else. Well, not anymore since Bunuel is dead. The surreal elements are subdued; there's nothing too goofy here, but characters wander in and out of dreams. I think some of them might even have dreams within other characters' dreams. Puzzling stuff, definitely puzzling enough to frustrate probably anybody who watches this. I really enjoy scratching my head though.

Viridiana

1961 Bunuel drama

Rating: 18/20

Plot: The title character, a soon-to-be nun ready to take her final vows, is persuaded by the head nun to pay a final visit to her only living relative, a rich but reclusive uncle. He's not a very good person. Viridiana reminds him of his wife who unfortunately died in his arms on their wedding night (sadly, that sounds only a little worse than my honeymoon), and begs her to marry him. She's a bit shocked, refuses, and prepares to leave immediately. So the uncle has her drugged in order to take advantage of her and find a way to force her to stay. Then she leaves. Then something else happens. Then something else happens. And then she decides that she wants to devote her life helping vagabonds and cripples. Then some other things happen.

Incredibly uplifting Bunuel criticism of (surprise!) organized religion and society. Ok, not uplifting at all. But it's brilliant film making! There's a flawless quality to the direction here that comes across as so effortless, and although this doesn't have the weirdness of other Bunuel movies (no cows in beds or eyeball slittings here), there are some fantastic moments, most notably a "last supper" scene and a somnambulist sequence that is dreamy enough to allow me to use my surreal tag. Speaking of tags, I thought I had an incest one. I'm not sure why I don't! I love the final scene of this movie despite its goofiness. Apparently, censors didn't approve of an original final scene, but from the description I've read, it seems like Bunuel managed to sneak a little something extra into this one.

Age of Gold

1930 surrealist dickery

Rating: 17/20

Plot: Scorpions defend themselves, deteriorating bishops are located, Rome is founded, men fall in love and then leer lustfully at the toes of statues, a son is shot, and they must get the cow out of bed as soon as possible. And what's Jesus doing in there of all places?

I'm not really positive there was a midget in this. The violinist was awfully short. Awfully short! However, even if there's not a midget in this, it's got the right spirit. Midget spirit! Follow-up to An Andalusian Dog is a bit more linear (there's a love story sort of weaving itself in and out of the nonsense) and probably more provocative. Bunuel's obsessions are here--attacks on the bourgeoisie, religion, and government. Alternately funny and disturbing, Age of Gold still works today and I can't imagine how revolutionary it would have seemed at the end of the 1920's. There's enough here to offend the whole family!

The Milky Way

1969 religious satire

Rating: 13/20

Plot: Two guys are pilgrimaging from somewhere in France to somewhere in Spain where they'll visit some place that has to do with Saint Thomas. Along the way, people bicker about religious dogma, a nun is crucified, shoes are stolen, a savior readies himself for a nice shave, a donkey needs babysat, the pope is executed, and a stigmatic child thumbs a ride for them. Definitely the pope and possibly God frown on the proceedings.

Sort of an episodic surrealist road movie, this definitely has its moments, but I didn't feel like I was the audience for it. Most of the dialogue, at least according to a note at the end of the film, is taken from religious texts, and I just don't have enough background on Catholicism and its history to get all the little jokes. There was a narrative structure here (although I was never sure about the time travel stuff) but this was still really choppy film making, almost like a series of vignettes instead of a real movie. Worth watching and maybe even worth watching again, but definitely not up there with my favorite Bunuel movies.

Dumbass/heretic:

Simon of the Desert

1965 Luis Bunuel half-movie

Rating: 16/20

Plot: Ascetic Simon, after spending six years, six months, and six days standing on a pillar in the desert, comes back to earth into the arms of adoring locals and his mother. He immediately ascends a ladder to another nearby, taller pillar where he continues his prayers, his fasting, his lifting of hands, and his deliverances of words of divine wisdom, sometimes while battling temptation from Satan's breats and/or tongue, and sometimes while standing on one leg. Locals come and go, and a third tempting leads to a startling denouement.

Bunuel, I believe, ran out of money and wasn't able to finish this in a way that would match his artistic vision, hence the brevity. Too bad, because this is an intriguing, predictablably satiric and pessimistic look at religious devotion. Simon, despite appearances and wonderfully portrayed by whoever it is who portrays him, isn't a figure used by Bunuel to make direct attacks at organized (or disorganized) religion, but a complex figure torn between his sometimes fuzzy ideas and the ideas of a modern world. The temptation scenes--Satan incognito as a female, bearded Christ; a moving coffin opening to reveal a right breast--are surreal. The dialogue between Simon and the public is revealing. The humor is typical of Bunuel's work, sort of a subtle wittiness, funny more on the inside than out. The juxtaposition of the final scene with the rest of the movie (a final scene, I'll admit, made me think, "Yikes! This is really stupid!") unfolded into a thing of complete genius. Great use of a bowlegged midget, too! I could easily have watched another forty-five minutes of this one.

Shane of the living room: