This movie forms a trilogy with the earlier "Exterminating Angel" and the later "Phantom of Liberty". They are all concerned with that stereotypically "modern man" termed the "bourgeoisie". How does Bunuel characterize this social phenomenon in this movie? Surprisingly, not as harshly as he does in the other two movies of the trilogy.
The Discreet Charm does not have a prologue {as in the other two in this trilogy} but opens up with the two couples arriving in a chauffeur driven limousine. The VIP whose vehicle it is , is the ambassador for the fictional Latin American state of "Miranda" {in Spanish this name denotes "admirable" and here Bunuel's cynicism is clear}. The ambassador is corrupt, and like many Colombian diplomats of the time, was using his supposed "diplomatic immunity" to smuggle cocaine into France. The other two French citizens are his accomplices. They do not use the drug themselves but instead liberally dose themselves with the legally acceptable bourgeois drug "alcohol"
In a series of humorous and teasingly droll sketches, Bunuel illustrates how these corrupt men and their colluding female partners act out their empty lives of hypocrisy and deceit.. There class snobbery is clearly demonstrated,when the Bishop dressed as a gardener is evicted from the house, but on reentering in his official clerical costume, he is immediately embraced. The bourgeois, always insecure about their own position in society, are always making presumptuous judgments about the social positions of other people, making their lack of substance obvious. Throughout the movie, the continual lack of social concern in their relationships, as emotionally connected human beings, is made clear. The metaphor of "breaking bread together", one of the most intimate of human experiences, is continually subverted by rampant egotism and selfish desires.
The scene when Bunuel has the dining table become a stage with a prompter giving them their lines, {as in Shakespeare's As You Like It "All the worlds a stage, and all the men and women merely players'}, is a brilliant confirmation of the emptiness of the bourgeois existence - simply stunning in its honesty {and so opposed to their inherent dishonesty}.
Other facets of the devious nature, of the bourgeois personality, pursued by Bunuel in this movie, are the paranoid dream and thought constructions, used to resolve problems {a pernicious form of dishonesty} and the recurrent theme of the six bourgeois characters walking on the open road - "The Road to Nowhere".
Bunuel devoted three whole movies to unmasking this scourge of human greed and existential poverty. The Surrealist program saw a revolution in human society as a prerequisite of a better world for all. Bunuel remained true to this creed throughout his artistic life.
This movie is funny and entertaining. I can think of no greater compliment to give it.
The Discreet Charm does not have a prologue {as in the other two in this trilogy} but opens up with the two couples arriving in a chauffeur driven limousine. The VIP whose vehicle it is , is the ambassador for the fictional Latin American state of "Miranda" {in Spanish this name denotes "admirable" and here Bunuel's cynicism is clear}. The ambassador is corrupt, and like many Colombian diplomats of the time, was using his supposed "diplomatic immunity" to smuggle cocaine into France. The other two French citizens are his accomplices. They do not use the drug themselves but instead liberally dose themselves with the legally acceptable bourgeois drug "alcohol"
In a series of humorous and teasingly droll sketches, Bunuel illustrates how these corrupt men and their colluding female partners act out their empty lives of hypocrisy and deceit.. There class snobbery is clearly demonstrated,when the Bishop dressed as a gardener is evicted from the house, but on reentering in his official clerical costume, he is immediately embraced. The bourgeois, always insecure about their own position in society, are always making presumptuous judgments about the social positions of other people, making their lack of substance obvious. Throughout the movie, the continual lack of social concern in their relationships, as emotionally connected human beings, is made clear. The metaphor of "breaking bread together", one of the most intimate of human experiences, is continually subverted by rampant egotism and selfish desires.
The scene when Bunuel has the dining table become a stage with a prompter giving them their lines, {as in Shakespeare's As You Like It "All the worlds a stage, and all the men and women merely players'}, is a brilliant confirmation of the emptiness of the bourgeois existence - simply stunning in its honesty {and so opposed to their inherent dishonesty}.
Other facets of the devious nature, of the bourgeois personality, pursued by Bunuel in this movie, are the paranoid dream and thought constructions, used to resolve problems {a pernicious form of dishonesty} and the recurrent theme of the six bourgeois characters walking on the open road - "The Road to Nowhere".
Bunuel devoted three whole movies to unmasking this scourge of human greed and existential poverty. The Surrealist program saw a revolution in human society as a prerequisite of a better world for all. Bunuel remained true to this creed throughout his artistic life.
This movie is funny and entertaining. I can think of no greater compliment to give it.