Year: 1972
Director: Luis Bunuel
Country: France
Language: French
Part of a trilogy of films about journey that began with The Milky Way (1969) and ended with Phantom of Liberty (1974), Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie is surrealist filmmaker Luis Bunuel at his very best. It's a remarkable work of art that, like The Exterminating Angel (1962), is a satire meant to deconstruct social order. Bunuel has a unique distaste of the upper class & this is his way of rebelling against a system of oppression.
This is a plotless series of dreams centered around six middle-class people and their consistently interrupted attempts to have a meal together.
Once deemed anarchistic and surreal, Buñuel’s tendency to interrupt a narrative line had become Oscar-worthy by the time of the film’s release. Discreet Charm looks, sounds, and feels like a Golden Hollywood picture, as there is beauty and glamour in every frame, but Bunuel subverts our expectations and turns the traditional formula on its face.
As the film becomes increasingly incoherent, it also becomes more entertaining. Lunacy is at the forefront as our senses give up trying to make sense of the events in this picture. Twisting and turning our expectations around every corner, Bunuel challenges his viewers to be less complacent with their movie going experience. He also asks us to challenge nonsensical Bourgeois values.
Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie is a picture that acts as both a serious dissection of class values, and a hilarious satire that will have audiences bursting in fits of laughter. It is a fine picture that will entice multiple viewings. If the Criterion edition wasn't so expensive, because it's out of print, I'd own it by now.
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