Luis Buñuel; 1900 (Calanda, Spain) 1983 (Mexico)


He used poetic, often bizarre imagery and black humor to question and undermine all claims of authority and knowledge. His adherence to surrealism can be seen clearly in his first film, Un Chien andalou (1928). This and his following film, L'Age d'or (1930), were made in Paris in collaboration with Salvador Dalí . After a 20-year period of relative inactivity, Buñuel reemerged as a director in Mexico. Los olvidados (1949) combined a social critique of slum conditions in Mexico City with an interest in dreams and weird visual effects. He was at odds with social niceties and perpetually at war with the Roman Catholic Church as he exposed hypocrisy and the persistence of human cruelty. Viridiana (1961), a scurrilous allegory of Franco 's Spain, was made there at the dictator's invitation and then banned. Many of his later works were made in France. Buñuel's other films include The Exterminating Angel (1962), Diary of a Chambermaid (1964), Belle de Jour (1966), The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972), and That Obscure Object of Desire (1977).


The founder of surrealist cinema, Luis Buñuel enjoyed a career as diverse and contradictory as his films: he was a master of both silent and sound cinema, of documentaries as well as features; his greatest work was produced in the two decades after his 60th year, a time when most directors have either retired or gone into decline; and although frequently characterized as a surrealist, many of his films were dramas and farces in the realist or neo-realist mode. Yet despite all the innovations and permutations of his work, Buñuel remained surprisingly consistent and limited in the targets of his social satire: the Catholic Church, bourgeois culture, and Fascism. As he once commented, "Religious education and surrealism have marked me for life."


Buñuel's style of directing was extremely economical. He shot films in a few weeks, never deviating from his script and shooting in order as much as possible to minimize editing time. He told actors as little as possible, and limited his directions mostly to physical movements ("move to the right", "walk down the hall and go through that door", etc.). He often refused to answer actors' questions and was known to simply turn off his hearing aid on the set; though they found it difficult at the time, many actors who worked with him acknowledged later that his approach made for fresh and excellent performances.


The surrealist film master, Spanish director Luis Buñuel, stunned audiences with shocking ideas and powerful images. Many of his films were greeted by controversy, protests from the church and condemnation from politicians, but he repeatedly challenged conventional prejudice.


Lauded by Alfred Hitchcock as "the Best Director Forever", Buñuel won many awards and honours in his lifetime. From surrealist experimentation, comedy, melodrama to postmodernist films, the uncompromising director was always devoted to creativity and remained loyal to his style.


Filmography:


1929 • Un perro andaluz (Un chien andalou)
Script: Luis Buñuel & Salvador Dalí

1930 • La edad de oro (L'âge d'or)
Script: Luis Buñuel & Salvador Dalí

1932 • Las Hurdes / Tierra sin pan
Srcipt: Luis Buñuel, Pierre Unik & Julio Acín

1947 • Gran Casino
Script: Mauricio Magdaleno

1949 • El gran calavera (The great madcap)
Script: Luis Alcoriza & Raquel Rojas

1950 • Los olvidados (The forgotten)
Script: Luis Buñuel, Luis Alcoriza - collaborators Max Aub & Pedro de Urdimalas

1950 • Susana
Script: Luis Buñuel, Jaime Salvador & Rodolfo Usigli

1951 • La hija del engaño / Don Quintín el amargao
Script: Luis Alcoriza & Raquel Rojas

1951 • Una mujer sin amor / Cuando los hijos nos juzgan
Script: Jaime Salvador

1952 • Subida al cielo
Script: Luis Buñuel, Manuel Altolaguirre, Juan de la Cabada & Lilia Solano Galeana

1952 • El bruto
Script: Luis Buñuel & Luis Alcoriza

1952 • Robinson Crusoe
Script: Luis Buñuel & Phillip Ansell Roll

1953 • Él
Script: Luis Buñuel & Luis Alcoriza

1953 • La ilusión viaja en tranvía
Script: Mauricio de la Serna,José Revueltas, Luis Alcoriza & Juan de la Cabada

1954 • Abismos de pasión
Script: Luis Buñuel, Julio Alejandro & Arduino Maiuri

1954 • El río y la muerte
Script: Luis Alcoriza & Luis Buñuel

1955 • Ensayo de un crimen
Script: Luis Buñuel & Eduardo Ugarte

1955 • Así es la aurora (Cela s'apelle l'aurore)
Script: Luis Buñuel & Jean Ferry

1956 • La muerte en este jardín (La mort en ce jardin)
Script: Luis Buñuel, Luis Alcoriza, Raymond Queneau & Gabriel Arout

1958 • Nazarín
Script: Luis Buñuel & Julio Alejandro, revised by Emilio Carballido

1959 • Los ambiciosos
Script: Luis Buñuel, Luis Alcoriza, Louis Sapin, Charles Dorat, Henri Castillou & José Luis González de León

1960 • La joven (The young one)
Script: Luis Buñuel & H.B. Addis (Hugo Butler)

1961 • Viridiana
Script: Luis Buñuel & Julio Alejandro

1962 • El ángel exterminador (The exterminating angel)
Script: Luis Buñuel & Luis Alcoriza

1964 • Diario de una camarera (Journal d'une femme de chambre)
Script: Luis Buñuel & Jean-Claude Carrière

1965 • Simón del desierto
Script: Luis Buñuel & Julio Alejandro

1967 • Bella de día (Belle de jour)
Script: Luis Buñuel y Jean- Claude Carrière, based in Joshep Kessel's novel

1969 • La vía láctea (La voie lactée)
Script: Luis Buñuel & Jean-Claude Carrière

1970 • Tristana
Script: Luis Buñuel & Julio Alejandro

1972 • El discreto encanto de la burguesía (Le charme discret de la bourgeoisie)
Script: Luis Buñuel & Jean-Claude Carrière

1974 • El fantasma de la libertad (Le fantôme de la liberté )
Script: Luis Buñuel & Jean-Claude Carrière

1977 • Ese oscuro objeto del deseo (Cet obscur object du désir)
Script: Luis Buñuel & Jean-Claude Carrière