'Luis Buñuel Portolés' (
February 22,
1900 –
July 29,
1983) was a
Spanish filmmaker who worked mainly in
Mexico and
France, but also in his native country and the United States. He is considered one of the most important directors in the history of cinema.
Biography
Life
Buñuel was born in
Calanda,
Teruel in the province of
Aragón,
Spain. His parents were Leonardo Buñuel and María Portolés; he had
two brothers, Alfonso and Leonardo, and four sisters, Alicia, Concepción, Margarita and María. He had a strict
Jesuit education at the Colegio del Salvador in
Zaragoza from which he was expelled. Later he went to university in
Madrid. While studying at the University of Madrid (current-day
Universidad Complutense de Madrid) he became a very close friend of painter
Salvador Dalí and poet
Federico García Lorca, among other important Spanish artists living in the
Residencia de Estudiantes. Buñuel first studied the
natural sciences and
agronomy, then
engineering, but later switched to
philosophy. In 1925, he moved to
Paris where he began work as a secretary in an organization called the ''International Society of Intellectual Cooperation''. He later found work in France as a director's assistant to
Jean Epstein on ''Mauprat'' and
Mario Nalpas on ''La Sirène des Tropiques'' and he co-wrote and then filmed a 16-minute short film ''
Un chien andalou'' (1929) with Dalí. This film, featuring a series of startling and sometimes horrifying images of
Freudian nature (such as what appears to be the slow slicing of a woman's eyeball with a razor blade) was enthusiastically received by French
surrealists of the time, and continues to be shown regularly in film societies to this day.
He followed this with ''
L'Âge d'Or'' (1930), partly based on the
Marquis de Sade's ''
120 Days of Sodom''. The film was begun as a second collaboration with Dalí but became Buñuel's solo project after a falling-out they had before filming began. During this film he worked around his technical ignorance by filming mostly in sequence and using nearly every foot of film that he shot. ''L'Âge d’or'' was read to be an attack on
Catholicism, and thus, precipitated an even larger scandal than ''Un chien andalou''. The
right-wing press criticized the film and the police placed a ban on it that lasted 50 years.
Following ''L'Âge d’or'', Buñuel returned to Spain and directed '' (''Land Without Bread'', 1933), a
documentary on
peasant life. It was during this time that
Francisco Franco was slowly gaining power in Spain. In 1936, the
Spanish Civil War had begun. Times were changing fast and Buñuel could see that someone with his political and artistic sensibilities would have no place in a
fascist Spain. He co-wrote and produced a documentary short about the changing political climes in Spain entitled ''
España 1936''.
In the United States
After the
Spanish Civil War, Buñuel was
exiled and moved to the United States. After working in the film archives of the
Museum of Modern Art in
New York, Buñuel moved to
Hollywood to capitalize on the short-lived fad of producing completely new foreign-language versions of hit films for sales abroad. After Buñuel worked on a few
Spanish-language remakes, the industry turned instead to re-
dubbing of dialogue.
First he moved to Hollywood, but returned to New York after failing to find work. There, he worked at the Museum of Modern Art, where he re-edited a shorter version of
Leni Riefenstahl's documentary on
Hitler, ''
Triumph of the Will''. After being denounced by Dalí as a
Communist and an
atheist, he resigned from the MOMA and went back to Hollywood where he worked in the dubbing department of
Warner Brothers.
In 1972, Buñuel, along with his screenwriter
Jean-Claude Carrière and producer
Serge Silberman, was invited by
George Cukor to his house. This gathering was particularly memorable and other invitees included
Alfred Hitchcock,
Rouben Mamoulian,
Robert Mulligan,
George Stevens,
Billy Wilder,
Robert Wise and
William Wyler.
[1]
Mexican era
Buñuel arrived in
Mexico in 1946 and, despite having previously had no interest whatsoever in
Latin America, ended up getting Mexican citizenship in 1949. The first film he directed there was the ''
Gran Casino'' (1946), produced by
Oscar Dancigers. Buñuel found the plot boring and it was not hugely successful. He later again collaborated with Dancigers in creating ''
El Gran Calavera'' (1949), a successful film starring
Fernando Soler. As Buñuel himself has stated, he learned the techniques of directing and editing while shooting ''El Gran Calavera''. Its success at the
box office encouraged Dancigers to accept the production of a more ambitious film for which Buñuel, apart from writing the script, had complete freedom to direct. The result was his critically acclaimed ''
Los Olvidados'' (1950), which was recently considered by
UNESCO as part of the world's cultural heritage. ''Los Olvidados'' (and its triumph at
Cannes) made Buñuel an instant world celebrity and the most important Spanish-speaking film director in the world.
Buñuel spent most of his later life in Mexico, where he directed 21 films. Those films included:
★ ''
Él'' (1952)
★ ''
Ensayo de un crimen'' (The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz) (1955)
★ ''
Nazarín'' (1958) (based on a novel by Spain's
Benito Pérez Galdós, and adapted by Buñuel to a Mexican context)
★ ''
Viridiana'' (1961) (coproduction Mexico-Spain and winner at Cannes)
★ ''
El Ángel Exterminador'' (The Exterminating Angel) (1962)
★ ''
Simón del desierto'' (Simon of the Desert) (1965).
French era
After the golden age of the Mexican film industry ended, Buñuel started to work in France along with Silberman and Carrière. During this "French Period", Buñuel directed some of his best-known works: ''Le Journal d'une femme de chambre'' (''
Diary of a Chambermaid''), free adaptation of the famous
Octave Mirbeau's novel ''
Le journal d'une femme de chambre'' ; ''
Belle de Jour'' ; ''
Cet obscur objet du désir'' (''That Obscure Object of Desire'') ; and ''Le Charme discret de la bourgeoisie (
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie'') - as well as some lesser-known films such as ''
The Phantom of Liberty'' and ''
La Voie lactée'' (''The Milky Way'').
After the release of ''Cet obscur objet du désir'' (1977) he retired from film making, and wrote (with Carrière) an autobiography, ''Mon Dernier Soupir'' (English: ''My Last Sigh''), published in 1982, which provides an account of Buñuel's life, friends, and family as well as a representation of his eccentric personality. In it he recounts dreams, encounters with many well known writers, actors, and artists such as
Pablo Picasso and
Charlie Chaplin, and antics such as dressing up as a
nun and walking around town. As one might deduce from these antics, Buñuel was famous for his atheism. In a 1960 interview with Michele Manceaux in ''L'Express'', Buñuel famously declared: "I am still, thank God, an atheist."
Buñuel almost seemed to repudiate this statement in a 1977 article in ''
The New Yorker''. "I'm not a
Christian, but I'm not an atheist, either", he said. "I'm weary of hearing that accidental old aphorism of mine, 'I'm an atheist, thank God.' It's outworn. Dead leaves. In 1951, I made a small film called ''Mexican Bus Ride'', about a village too poor to support a church and a priest. The place was serene, because no one suffered from guilt. It's guilt we must escape from, not God."
He married Jeanne Rucar in a town hall in Paris in 1934 and they remained married throughout his life. His sons are Rafael and Juan Luis Buñuel.
He died in
Mexico City in 1983.
Surrealism
Buñuel's films were famous for their surreal imagery; they include scenes in which chickens populate nightmares, women grow beards, and aspiring saints are desired by luscious women. Even in the many movies he made for hire (rather than for his own creative reasons), such as ''Susana'', ''
Robinson Crusoe'', and ''The Great Madcap'', he always added his trademark of disturbing and surreal images. Running through his own films is a backbone of surrealism; Buñuel's world is one in which an entire dinner party suddenly finds themselves inexplicably unable to leave the room and go home, a bad dream hands a man a letter which he brings to the doctor the next day, and where
the devil, if unable to tempt a saint with a pretty girl, will fly him to a
disco. Buñuel never explained or promoted his work. On one occasion, when his son was interviewed about ''
The Exterminating Angel'', Buñuel instructed him to give facetious answers; for example, when asked about the presence of a bear in the socialites' house, Buñuel ''fils'' claimed it was because his father liked bears. Similarly, the several repeated scenes in the film were explained as having been put there to increase the running time.
Religious influence
Many of his films were openly critical of
middle class morals and
organized religion, mocking the
Roman Catholic Church for hypocrisy. Many of his most famous films demonstrate this:
★ ''
Un chien andalou'' (1929) -- A man drags pianos, upon which are piled two dead donkeys, two priests, and the tablets of
The Ten Commandments.
★ ''
L'Age D'Or'' (1930) -- A
bishop is thrown out a window, and in the final scene one of the culprits of the ''120 days of Sodom'' is portrayed by an actor dressed in a way that he would be recognized as
Jesus.
★ ''
Ensayo de un crimen'' (1955) -- A man dreams of murdering his wife while she's praying in bed dressed all in white.
★ ''
Simón del desierto'' (1965) -- The devil tempts a
saint by taking the form of a bare-breasted girl singing and showing off her legs. At the end of the film, the saint abandons his
ascetic life to hang out in a
jazz club.
★ ''
Nazarin'' (1959) -- The pious lead character wreaks ruin through his attempts at charity.
★ ''
Viridiana'' (1961) -- A well-meaning young nun tries unsuccessfully to help
the poor.
★ ''
La Voie Lactée'' (1969) -- Two men travel the ancient
pilgrimage road to
Santiago de Compostela and meet embodiments of various
heresies along the way. One dreams of
anarchists shooting the
Pope.
The story of the making of ''Viridiana'' is illustrative. Buñuel's earlier Spanish and
French films from the 1930s were regarded as cinema landmarks -- ''Un Chien Andalou'', ''L'Age D'Or'', and ''
Las Hurdes'' (also known as ''Tierra sin Pan'' or ''Land Without Bread'') (1933). The advent of the Spanish Civil War in 1936, however, caused the
expatriation of many artists and intellectuals from the fascist
dictatorship of Franco, whose military revolt and rise to power had had the strong backing of the Spanish Catholic hierarchy.
Had Buñuel stayed in Spain, his fate might have been the same as that of his friend, poet
Federico García Lorca, who was
assassinated at the outset of Franco's military
revolt. After some years of artistic silence forced by the difficult circumstances of his expatriation, Buñuel, then residing in Mexico, returned in full force to writing and directing with some of his best films, which once more won him international acclaim.
In 1960, for political
propaganda reasons, Franco instructed his minister of culture to invite the country's most famous filmmaker to return to Spain to direct a film of his choice. Buñuel accepted and proceeded to make ''
Viridiana'', promptly departing from the country after finishing the film, but leaving a few official copies. After viewing them, the copies were burned by the dictator's authorities. The minister of culture was reprimanded for having passed the
screenplay in the first place. A copy of ''Viridiana'', however, had been smuggled to France, where it proceeded to win the
Palme D'Or of the
Cannes International Film Festival. The film was banned in Spain, but got international attention and praise (with some exceptions). The
Vatican's official press organ, ''
l'Osservatore Romano'', published an article calling ''Viridiana'' an insult not only to Catholicism, but to
Christianity itself.
Style & Technique
Buñuel's style of directing was extremely economical. He shot films in a few weeks, never deviating from his script and shooting in order as much as possible to minimize editing time. He told actors as little as possible, and limited his directions mostly to physical movements ("move to the right", "walk down the hall and go through that door", etc.). He often refused to answer actors' questions and was known to simply turn off his hearing aid on the set; though they found it difficult at the time, many actors who worked with him acknowledged later that his approach made for fresh and excellent performances.
Buñuel preferred scenes which could simply be pieced together end-to-end in the editing room, resulting in long, mobile, wide shots which followed the action of the scene. Examples are especially present in his French films. For example, at the restaurant / ski resort in ''
Belle de Jour'', Séverin, Pierre, and Henri are conversing at a table. Buñuel cuts away from their conversation to two young women who walk down a few steps and proceed through the restaurant, passing behind Séverin, Pierre, and Henri, at which point the camera stops and the young women walk out of frame. Henri then comments on the women and the conversation at the table progresses from there.
Buñuel disliked
non-diegetic music, and avoided it in his films. The films of his French era were not scored and some (''
Belle de Jour'', ''
Diary of a Chambermaid'') contain absolutely no music whatsoever. ''
Belle de Jour'' does, however, feature (potentially) non-diegetic
sound effects, believed by some to be clues as to whether or not the current scene is a dream.
Awards & Nominations
Luis Buñuel was given the 'Career Golden Lion' in 1982 by the
Venice Film Festival and the 'FIPRESCI Prize - Honorable Mention' in 1969 by the
Berlin Film Festival.
★ ''
Los olvidados'' (1950)
★
★
Cannes Film Festival 'Prix de la mise en scène Winner' (Best Director)
★ ''
Subida al cielo'' (1952)
★
★
Cannes Film Festival Official Selection
★ ''
El'' (1953)
★
★
Cannes Film Festival Official Selection
★ ''
Nazarín'' (1959)
★
★
Cannes Film Festival 'International Prize Winner'
★ ''
The Young One'' (1960)
★
★
Cannes Film Festival 'Special Mention Winner'
★ ''
Viridiana'' (1961)
★
★
Cannes Film Festival '
Palme D'Or Winner'
★ ''
El ángel exterminador'' (1962)
★
★
Cannes Film Festival Official Selection
★ ''
Simón del desierto'' (1965)
★
★
Venice Film Festival 'Special Jury Prize Winner'
★
★
Venice Film Festival 'FIPRESCI Prize Winner'
★ ''
Belle de jour'' (1967)
★
★
Venice Film Festival 'Golden Lion Winner'
★
★
Venice Film Festival 'Pasinetti Award Winner'
★ ''
La Voie Lactée'' (1969)
★
★
Berlin Film Festival 'Interfilm Award Winner'
★ ''
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie'' (1972)
★
★
Academy Awards 'Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film'
Filmography
Feature Films
Short Films
★ ''
Un chien andalou'' (1929)
★
★ ''An Andalusian Dog''
★ '' (1933) ''Documentary''
★
★ ''Land Without Bread''
★ ''
Simón del desierto'' (1965)
References
1. ''American Masters: George Cukor''
Bibliography
★
Bunuel Bibliography (via UC Berkeley)
★
Buñuel biography
★ Koller, Michael.
''Un Chien Andalou''. ''senses of cinema'' January 2001. Retrieved on
July 26,
2006.
★ López, Ignacio Javier. ''The Old Age of William Tell (A study of Buñuel's ''Tristana'')''. ''
MLN'' 116 (2001): 295–314.
External links
★
★
Senses of Cinema: Great Directors Critical Database
★
AllMovie Guide
★
Videoartworld : The Masters Series. Selected Movies from Bunuel. Public Domain Movies Online
★
They Shoot Pictures, Don't They?
★
No Blacks or Whites: The Making of Luis Bunuel's The Young One
★
The Discreet Charm of Luis Bunuel - Article
★
Thank God I'm an atheist: The surrealistic cinema of Luis Bunuel
★
Interview with Jean-Claude Carriere - Bunuel's screenwriter and friend
★
The Religious Affiliation of Luis Buñuel
★
The Indiscreet Charms of Luis Buñuel - Article
★
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