When I think of the films of Luis Buñuel, the first image that comes to mind is that of the corpse of a murdered child. Her legs are strewn among the branches of deep, dark woodland, and her legs covered in snails. The image in question is from Buñuel’s 1964 film Diary Of A Chambermaid; a relatively straight film for the director and lacking the overt … Continue reading Snails and Death
“Serene, eternity waits at the crossroad of stars.” – Jorge Luis Borges The actress was due in the studio that morning. She was a star and so every one of the assistants, hairdressers and make-up artists for the shoot were more nervous than usual. This was not a regular star, so I thought, but someone genuinely important; a human vision of culture. This was the reason why … Continue reading Fictions: A Forever-Moment Of Glass
The Discreet Charm Of The Bourgeoisie (1972) is a perfect example of a narrative film fragmenting into surreal dreamscapes. From its title alone, Luis Buñuel’s obvious target is middle-class idolatry but, for a film full of incredibly stark images, there is one visual motif which stands out from the other surrealist political attacks. Discreet is punctuated, whether in dreams or reality (or perhaps both), by … Continue reading The Nowhere Road in The Discreet Charm Of The Bourgeoisie (1972)
There are a number of directors associated with the often brash task of dismantling the bourgeoisie through the use of allegory, metaphor and the sheer brutality of the cinematic form. Out of all of these, the likes of which include Luis Buñuel and Michael Haneke, Pier Paolo Pasolini stands tall above them in his consistent despising of the class and its social patriarchy. The late … Continue reading Theorem – Pier Paolo Pasolini (BFI Release).
Celluloid Wicker Man 