Le Charme Discret de la Bourgeoisie

strictly speaking, i've always felt i've had more a surrealist type of outlook to life.

i think i've always had a healthy appreciation for the absurd. and I'm not talking Kierkegaard's type of absurd, i.e his belief it is impossible to reconcile rationality with religion..that's a whole new can of worms.

i'm just talking about the incongruities of life that we're faced with on a daily basis. some inspire anger, some disgust, some bemusement.

we deal with absurdity all the time, and surrealism lays these things bare, and in viewing them we may think of them as strange, nonsensical, or terrifying..but in reality they are displaying truths in ways that aren't always so easy to understand. we're confronted with surrealism every day.

"in reality" isn't really the best phrase to use in relation with surrealism is it?

the movie, "The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie" can be considered a surrealist movie. It is directed by Luis Bunuel. Its interesting to note that this movie won the Oscar for best foreign language film.

the movie basically consists of several gatherings of a group of friends (naturally all members of the bourgeoisie) and they are all interrupted. some extremely odd things happen to this people throughout the course of the movie and they react to them all with remarkable equanimity...or indiference. depending on how you look at it.

Bunuel must have taken perverse joy in inflicting these situations on his poor, hapless, bourgeois puppets, and it really adds a twist to this satire of bourgeois sensibilities. many of the scenes, were there a laughtrack present, could be construed as something bordering slapstick comedy, in fact i thought many of the scenes were like monty python skits or something, especially cause of the styling.

interspersed throughout the movie(as well as being the end scene) is a shot of the friends aimlessly walking down a long country road, seemingly lost, and completely silent. its remarkably resonant for me.

this film is ridiculous and really funny and even if you have no idea what it means at the end, its a damned good ride. check out the trailer, and for a taste of what you're in for, watch the scene below.