Review of Un Chien Andalou (1929) by Eric K — 10 Feb 2010

Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dali thank you. Thank you for giving this film to the world. Why am I so grateful? It is hard to trace my motives even for me. The only thing I can sincerely tell you is that I loved this film beyond any measure. "Un Chien Andalou" bears a strange power as it unfolds between our very eyes. It is as disturbing, shocking and awe inspiring, as it is entertaining, funny and bizzare. It speaks directly to the bottom of our minds and mostly to our guts and heart. We basically know what it means but we can in no way describe it as it is really impossible to do so being bound by logic and our common senses.

Still, if we tried to interpret this film, to define it we would have to define the role that Buñuel and Dali had in the creative process of the film. Because it only takes two minutes into the film to understand that they were hardly just two friends making a film about a man and a woman. It is also hard to say whether they wanted to convey a certain emotion. Legend has it that prior to conceiving the concept of making this film, Dali, listened to Buñuel describing him a dream he had and also shared with Buñuel a dream of his own. There and then he thought that they could make a picture remniscient of a dream filter their thoughts while writting the script for it and keeping only the most basic and completely automatic ideas that could not be related to any rational explanation. They succeeded but there was a flaw.

Dreams stem from the subconscious. Buñuel himself has said that the only way that one could use and succeed in interpreting the film is psychoanalysis. If we simply look a little deeper we can easily understand that ourselves. The film doesn't make sense. Despite that what we originaly thought to be profoundly disturbing images of an eye being sliced open, a man dragging two pianos with dead cows on and also a couple of priests tied to the pianos, a hand that breeds ants, a woman getting hit by a car and several objects of unknown significance and origin can turn into symbols. Nothing particular can be pointed out as meaning or plot but we can see how the subconscious of the artists feels about subjects such as sex, violence, art and religion. Aren't these the fabrics of life anyway?

So after giving you my two cents about how I understand or more suitably don't understand the film I need to mention the presentation and direction of all things forementioned. Buñuel gives us not only signs of what a masterful filmmaker he'll become but also a perfect example of his work that could easily define the whole spectrum of his career. Ok, officially the film was co-created in all aspects by Dali but who went on to be one of the greatest filmmakers of all times? Exactly. On to the film now, from its beggining Buñuel gives us a false sense of security by using explanatory title cards that were used in conventional filmmaking at the time to inform the audience of the time the story takes place, the passing of time throughout the picture and so on. In this film though it just a way to give us the idea of something familiar before striking a note in undiscovered parts of our soul, leaving us taken aback. Other than that the film also offers great cinematography, editing and style the likes of which have never been used on celluloid prior to "Un Chien Andalou". In that respect we can easily compare the film to "Citizen Kane".

What is "Un Chien Andalou" conclusively? Is it a spectacle that touches sides of ourselves we would like to leave untouched? Is it one of the greatest artistic collaborations of all time? Is it one of the artistic milestones of the twentieth century? Is it a pretentious farce maybe? I believe it is simply something that every person should experience at least once in their lives. For the sake of it.