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August 13, 2004

Un Chien Andalou

Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí's Un Chien Andalou is that masterpiece of surrealist cinema one reads about all the time but never sees. Now it is available in its entirety I should warn you about the eyeball slicing and breast fondling interludes. Quite specialized for a silent film. It is a shame I did not see this when I was 20 as I would have thought it was brilliant. Now it is primarily a source of annoyance thanks to over-enthusiastic Pixies fans lacking an art history background.

The initial seeds of surrealism begin to grow. You have to admire the temerity of Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dali to create this piece of material circa 1928, when it was going to cause an outrage in that taboo period. Buñuel allegedly took stones to the premiere to throw at the critics. The film opens with Buñuel in the infamous scene where he slashes the eyeball of a woman with a razorblade. After this initial disturbing image, the rest of the film has other dreamlike sequences, which cannot be easily explained.

Posted by Ghost of a flea at August 13, 2004 08:30 AM

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