Él.

Review #1383: Él.

Cast: 
Arturo de Córdova (Francisco Galván de Montemayor), Delia Garcés (Gloria Vilalta), Aurora Walker (Doña Esperanza Vilalta), Carlos Martínez Baena (Padre Velasco), Manuel Dondé (Pablo), Rafael Banquells (Ricardo Luján), Fernando Casanova (Lic. Beltrán), and Luis Beristáin (Raul Conde) Directed by Luis Buñuel.

Review: 
"[The cinema] is an instrument of poetry, with all that that word can imply of the sense of liberation, of subversion of reality, of the threshold of the marvelous world of the subconscious, of nonconformity with the limited society that surrounds us.” 

What can one say about Luis Buñuel that hasn't been said before? I am reminded of the fact that there have been over 800 directors featured on Movie Night, with a fraction of those being world cinematic directors. Buñuel has such a reach that I found myself doing a PowerPoint on him for my Introduction to Cinema class in college. In the course of a career that spanned two continents and 48 years, he made a total of 32 films in a life that found inspiration from numerous sources, with one film of importance being Fritz Lang's Destiny (1921), where he found that images could be the true means of expression. He soon moved from his native Spain (after having met future notable figures like Salvador Dali) to France, where he eventually found important influences such as Jean Epstein. After doing some assistant directing and work as a film critic, he collaborated with Dali on what would become his first film, Un Chien Andalou (1929), which was hailed by the surrealist movement of the time along with what Buñuel called the intellectual bourgeoisie (who he wanted to insult). It definitely is one of the most famous short films ever made, if not for the discussion over its content (or at least confusion over what it is). He would make two further films in L'Age d'Or (1930) and Land Without Bread (1933) while moving from France to Spain to the United States. While his next film would not be for over a decade, he worked in various ways around film, such as the dubbing department for Paramount and Warner Brothers, producer for Filmofono and for the Museum of Modern Art. In 1947, Buñuel found his way back into directing, this time in Mexico during what would soon become known as the Golden Age for Mexican cinema with Gran Casino. For the next few decades, Buñuel would spend time in various countries making films, with noted ones being Los Olvidados (1950), The Exterminating Angel (1962, which I saw clips for the aforementioned project), and The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972), which won an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. 

The film was adapted by Buñuel and Luis Alcoriza from the novel Pensamientos by Mercedes Pinto, with inspiration being taken from memories of the husband that married Buñuel's sister, who was once paranoid enough to think that Buñuel was making faces at him and had to be convinced it wasn't him after he got his weapon ready. He felt that of all the films he made, this is the one that had the most of him in terms of autobiography, particularly in the main character. This film was shot in three weeks, with the eventual film proving a disappointment with audiences along with Buñuel in the quick conditions he had to make it in. Regardless of how the film turned out then, it is easy to say now that this is a well-done melodrama, one that touches upon repression in terms of religion (which Buñuel had grown up with before being disillusioned with it) and passion with a few surreal touches that goes along with a fair cast and cinematography from Gabriel Figueroa (who worked in both Mexican and American cinema for over 50 years). It is a claustrophobic movie to watch in its lead: a rich man with the power to attract people to him who is also quite deranged and jealous. In that sense, Córdova is up to task with plenty of furor to go around that is wrapped in paranoia and plenty of conviction to go with that, the kind of man who likes to view people from above as worms in the dirt. Garcés compliments him in this confinement with resilience, a person who tries to keep sane in a strange world wracked with trying to stoke a loveless marriage from death (which might prove true both figuratively and literally). The others prove just fine in providing perspective to the events depicted, with the highlight moment being at the end when Córdova's mind has its last breakdown, complete with cuts to an imagined responsive crowd. Ultimately, this is a haunting spectacle of perspective within romance and class that utilizes its 92 minutes wisely to make an interesting movie worth talking about today as a gem for world cinema. 

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.