The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
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| The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie | |
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 Theatrical Poster |
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| Directed by | Luis Buñuel |
| Produced by | Serge Silberman |
| Written by | Luis Buñuel Jean-Claude Carrière |
| Starring | Fernando Rey Paul Frankeur Delphine Seyrig Stéphane Audran Bulle Ogier Jean-Pierre Cassel |
| Cinematography | Edmond Richard |
| Editing by | Hélène Plemiannikov |
| Release date(s) |  September 15, 1972 October 22, 1972 |
| Running time | 102 minutes |
| Country | France / Italy / Spain |
| Language | French |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (French: Le charme discret de la bourgeoisie) is a 1972 surrealist film written and directed by Luis Buñuel, a Spanish filmmaker associated with the Surrealist movement. The film was made in France and is in French, although some dialogue is in Spanish.
The film is about a group of upper middle-class people attempting — despite continual interruptions — to dine together. The film received the 1972 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
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[edit] Plot
The film is several thematically connected scenes: five gatherings of a group of bourgeois friends, and four dreams dreamt by different characters. The beginning of the film focuses on the gatherings, while the latter part focuses on the dreams, but both types of scenes are intermixed. There are also scenes involving other subjects, such as one about a Latin American terrorist girl from the fictitious Republic of Miranda. The film's world is not logical: the bizarre events are accepted by the characters, even if they are impossible or contradictory.
The film begins with a bourgeois couple, the Thévenots, arriving at the house of the Sénéchals, the hosts of a dinner party, but the Sénéchals say the planned supper was for the next day. 'But that is impossible', says Mme Thévenot, 'I couldn’t have accepted, tomorrow I’m busy'. In the next sequence, Mme Sénéchal is invited out to dinner, but she has to change. Finally arriving at the restaurant, the party find it locked. They knock and are invited in, despite the waitress' seeming reluctance and an ominous mention of "new management." Inside, there are no diners (despite disconcertingly cheap prices) and the sound of wailing voices from an adjoining room. It is learned that the manager died a few hours earlier and his body is in an adjoining room, awaiting the coroner. The party hurriedly leave.
Various other aborted dinners ensue, with interruptions including the arrival of an army of soldiers in the dining room, or the revelation that a restaurant is in fact a stage set in a theatrical performance, during a dream sequence.
The films ends with the three couples walking silently on a road toward a mysterious destination.
[edit] Principal cast
- Fernando Rey
- Paul Frankeur
- Delphine Seyrig
- Bulle Ogier
- Stéphane Audran
- Jean-Pierre Cassel
- Julien Bertheau
- Milena Vukotic
- Maria Gabriella Maione
- Claude Piéplu
- Marguerite Muni
- Pierre Maguelon
- François Maistre
- Michel Piccoli
[edit] Footnotes
[edit] External links
- Criterion Collection essay by Carlos Fuentes
- Criterion Collection essay by Luis Bunuel
- Roger Ebert's review of The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
- The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie at Rotten Tomatoes
| Awards | ||
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| Preceded by The Garden of the Finzi-Continis |
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film 1972 |
Succeeded by Day for Night |
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