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| Director: Luis Bunuel
Actors: Fernando Rey, Delphine Seyrig, Paul Frankeur, Bulle Ogier, Stephane Audran
Studio: Cinematheque Collection
List Price: $24.99
Buy Used: $5.88
You Save: $19.11 (76%)
New (2) Used (16) Collectible (2) from $5.88
Rating:  44 reviews
Sales Rank: 32867
Format: Color, Ntsc
Languages: French (Original Language), Spanish (Original Language)
Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: VHS Tape
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 102 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.3 x 4.2 x 1.1
ISBN: 630240584X
UPC: 000799700037
EAN: 9786302405842
ASIN: 630240584X
Theatrical Release Date: October 22, 1972
Release Date: July 24, 1992
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: NOT an ex-rental, video box cut and slid into clamshell case cover
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 41-44 of 44
 Bunuel at his best August 28, 2003
D. Weisbord (Portland, OR)
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
A scathing satire that's funny as well as satirical. Bunuel has a varied career, and it was wonderful to see him have sucess later in life with several of his last films. A great film by truly one of the world's great directors.
 bunuel's best July 10, 2006
Eugene Schiller (Honolulu, Hi United States)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
A satire on social mores, the film begins as guests arrive for a dinner party, only to find they have come on the wrong day. They agree to meet at a later date, but each subsequent encounter, real or imagined, ends in frustration and/or calamity. At one of these, a soldier invites himself to the table, introducing the first of Bunuel's patented dream sequences - a straightforward narrative of a mother's love and the eternal bond that exists between the dead and the living. By contrast, the dreams of the bourgeoisie reveal their petty egos, guilt and anxiety. The line between fantasy and reality becomes sufficiently blurred so that by the time we reach the final scene, with all six protagonists trudging down a seemingly endless road, one is forced to concede the entire film may be the product of their collective (discreet?) imagination.
The Criterion edition is technically far in advance of any previous video release, enabling a new appreciation for the film's superb photography, enhancing its varied palette, and rendering a seductive gloss to each meticulously composed frame.
Bunuel social commentary August 30, 2006
Cory D. Slipman (Rockville Centre, N.Y.)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Spanish surrealist director Luis Bunuel once again is critical of various aspects of society in his 1972 Oscar winner "The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie.
Bunuel focuses on a group of six individuals, who are members of the upper crust of society. Fernando Rey, the most recognizable actor portrays the cocaine smuggling Don Rafael, a diplomat from the fictitious Latin American country of Miranda. Throughout the film they attempt to share a meal but a series of bizarre interruptions prevent them from consumating the repast. While many attempts are made to share dinner the net reult is a failure. Try as they might the efforts of these bourgeoisie accomplish exactly nothing.
The plot is admixed with a series of dream sequences involving several characters that result in surreal happenstances.
Bunuel pokes fun at both the military and the clergy. He represents soldiers, who are on manuevers are pot smoking automatons. He lambastes the clergy when he depicts a priest after giving a dying man last rites, ironically kills him with a shotgun blast. The man apparently years ago had killed the priest's parents, a crime for which he had just been absolved after confessing.
We get the idea that Bunuel is not exactly enamored with the society is which he lives.
Odd, But Pretty Good October 27, 2006
Joshua Miller (Coeur d'Alene,ID)
Winner of the 1972 Oscar for Best Foreign Film "The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie" is a strange little film that is really quite enjoyable. The setup is incredibly simple; Rafael Acosta, the ambassador of Maranda shows up to the house Senechal house for dinner, along with Francois Thevenot, his wife Simone Thevenot, and her sister Florence. Henri Senechal is not there, but his wife Alice is and she informs them that they were not to meet until the following night. They dispute this claim, but quickly see what they can do.
So begins these characters constantly trying to sit down and enjoy a meal together. This will take them to a restaurant, where the owner has recently died (and is in the room with them); Will bring the Senechal's gardener to murder, and a whole bunch of other wackiness. A lot of the stuff is imagined, some of the events occur in dreams that lead you to believe it's real until something unbelievable happens and a character wakes up. There's also a funny "sub-plot" involving Rafael believing that a terrorist is attempting to kill him (the terrorist is a woman, he belives in involved with a group of men, who stands in front of his building attempting to sell small mechanical dogs). The movie is funny and seems almost like a play sometimes. It's an absurd film, but it's not just the story that won it Best Foreign Film. An equal amount of kudos go to cinematographer Edmond Richard, the cinematography is really great. And of course, screenwriter/legendary director Luis Bunel ('Belle De Jour' & 'The Exterminating Angel') who's direction fits the film so much and is truly flawless. Since it's got a word in the title that most people won't be able to pronounce ('bourgeoisie') and it's in French, a lot of people won't see this movie. Hopefully, since it's in The Criterion Collection more people will take notice. It's not a perfect film, but it's definitely one worth checking out.
GRADE: B+
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