Buñuel’s The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie

The first collection of critical essays on Luis Buñuel’s 1972 Oscar-winning masterpiece, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, this anthology brings fresh perspectives to the most sophisticated film of this director whose narrative experimentation was always ahead of its time. Combining some of the world’s most distinguished scholars on Buñuel and Spanish cinema with new voices in cultural theory, this volume helps us to rethink not only The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, but also Buñuel’s entire body of work. Among the topics examined are Buñuel’s relationship to surrealism, the transnational (Spanish, French, Mexican, and American) nature of his work, and his dramatic and idiosyncratic rethinking of sex, narrative and gender. Also included are vintage reviews of the film, as well a selected Buñuel bibliography.

• First and only collection of critical essays on Buñuel’s Oscar-winning masterpiece • International cast of contributors, reflecting the international character of Buñuel’s work (Spanish, French, Mexican, and American) • In the popular Cambridge Film Handbook series

Introduction; 1. The nomadic discourse of Luis Buñuel: a rambling overview Marsha Kinder; Part I. Overtures and Overtones: 1. Laughs with Buñuel Jose Luis Borau; 2. How Marilyn Monroe profoundly influenced The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie John Rechy; Part II. Recontextualizing The Discreet Charm: 3. Buñuel the realist: variations of a dream Juan Roberto Mora Catlett; 4. A cultural background to The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie Agustin Sanchez Vidal; 5. The discreet charm of the postmodern: the negotiating the great divide with the ultimate modernist Luis Buñuel, Victor Fuentes; Part III. Retheorizing Buñuel: 6. Buñuel in the cathedral of culture: reterritorializing the film auteur Marvin D’Lugo; 7. Unraveling entanglements of sex, narrative, and gender: The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, and Belle de Jour Harmony Wu; 8. Buñuel’s net work: the detour trilogy James Tobias; Part IV. Vintage Reviews.