Luis Buñuel hit upon a distinctive new tone on his last three films; serenity of age buffering the old savageries. Politics, religion & upper-middle-class mores still targeted, but now playing with the knowledge that the fight’s been won even before the lights go down. If not in the world at large, than in the cinematic universe, adding an undertone of delight. First & best of the three was DISCREET CHARM OF THE BOURGEOISIE/’72, with PHANTOM OF LIBERTY/’74 less followup than vaudeville. OBJET, something of a return to form. Like DISCREET, it’s about not getting what you want. There dinner; here sex. And the closer you get, the surer your goal will prove unreachable. Surprisingly, modern day terrorism a leading figure in both. And if nothing here can match DISCREET's dinner guests hiding under a table from machine gun fire while hopefully reaching above for those untouched plates of food, there’s still plenty of food for thought (and hilarity) as wealthy, middle-aged Fernando Rey relates his amorous tale of woe to fellow train travelers all about young, beautiful, coitus-withholding Conchita, alternately played by warm/earthy Ángela Molina & elegant/angular Carole Bouquet.* Filmmaking never looked so easy, but don’t be fooled. At 77, it took a lifetime to get here.
ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: *Buñuel pulled the plug on his first attempt when Maria Schneider proved impossible to work with, coming back to the project after he & collaborator Jean-Claude Carrière thought to split the role between two actresses.
DOUBLE-BILL/LINK: Pierre Louÿs’ novel filmed many times, including THE DEVIL IS A WOMAN/’35 (Marlene Dietrich/Josef von Sternberg). But the basic idea of unconsummated frustration closer to Ernst Lubitsch’s equally frustrating misfire BLUEBEARD’S EIGHTH WIFE/’38. https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2012/02/bluebeards-eight-wife-1938.html
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