Film: Bunuel’s “The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie” (1972)
When you revisit a film 50 years after you first saw and loved it, will you still feel the same way? That depends. “The Graduate?” Sure. “2001: A Space Odyssey?” Absolutely. “The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie?” What was I thinking?
As film fans of a certain age may recall, Luis Bunuel’s “Discreet” (1972) features six upper-middle-class Parisians at a dinner party who never quite get to the food. That’s because they’re continuously thwarted at the last minute by some unforeseen circumstances. There’s an interruption from a group of soldiers who have a warrant for their arrest, for example. Or the appearance of an old peasant who asks for a priest to dispense the last rites for a murderer. And so on.
Some of these absurd episodes are LOL funny, as is the indignant reaction of the entitled bourgeoisie couples. But despite a cast that features Fernando Rey and Bulle Ogier, after a while your tolerance begins to wear thin, as you realize Bunuel is putting one over on you, and that what you are seeing is not real but perhaps a dream or a nightmare. Okay. We get it.
“Discreet” enraptured the critics of the day, particularly Vincent Canby of the New York Times, and it went in to win heaps of awards which Bunuel openly disdained. The reason it is again relevant is that the film is reportedly the inspiration for Sondheim’s last musical “Here We Go” which we will be seeing shortly. Hopefully Sondheim has added some substance to Bunuel’s 90-minute practical joke.
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