Luis Buñuel

Luis Buñuel

Born: February 21, 1900
Died: July 29, 1983
in Calanda, Teruel, Aragón, España
Luis Buñuel Portolés (Spanish: [ˈlwis βuˈɲwel poɾtoˈles]; 22 February 1900 – 29 July 1983) was a Spanish filmmaker who worked in France, Mexico, and Spain. He has been widely considered by many film critics, historians, and directors to be one of the great and more influential filmmakers of all time. Buñel's works were known for their avant-garde surrealism which were also infused with political commentary and social satire.

Often associated with the surrealist movement of the 1920s, Buñuel made films from the 1920s through the 1970s. He collaborated with prolific surrealist painter Salvador Dali creating the films Un Chien Andalou (1929), which was made in the silent era and L'Age d'Or (1930). The two films are seen as the birth of Cinematic surrealism. From 1947 to 1960 he developed his skills as a director filming in Mexico making grounded and human melodramas such as Gran Casino (1947), Los Olvidados (1950), and Él (1953). Here is where he gained the fundamentals of storytelling.

Buñel than transitioned into making artful, unconventional, surrealist, and political satirical films. He earned acclaim with the morally complex arthouse drama film Viridiana (1961) which criticized the Francoist dictatorship. The film won the Palme d'Or at the 1961 Cannes Film Festival. He then criticized political and social conditions in The Exterminating Angel (1962), and The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoise (1972) the later of which won the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. He also directed Diary of a Chambermaid (1964), and Belle de Jour (1967), as well as his final film That Obscure Object of Desire (1977) the later of which earned the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Director.

Buñel earned five Cannes Film Festival prizes, two Berlin International Film Festival prizes, and a BAFTA Award as well as nominations for two Academy Awards. Buñuel received numerous honors including National Prize for Arts and Sciences for Fine Arts in 1977, the Moscow International Film Festival Contribution to Cinema Prize in 1979, and the Career Golden Lion in 1982. He was nominated once for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1968. Seven of Buñuel's films are included in Sight & Sound's 2012 critics' poll of the top 250 films of all time.

Movies for Luis Buñuel...

Le Fantôme de Laurent Terzieff
Title: Le Fantôme de Laurent Terzieff
Character: Self (archive footage)
Released: September 9, 2020
Type: Movie
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Jeanne Moreau: Free Spirit
Title: Jeanne Moreau: Free Spirit
Character: Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)
Released: April 2, 2018
Type: Movie
An account of the life of actress Jeanne Moreau (1928-2017), a true icon of the New Wave and one of the most idolized French movie stars.
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The Incredible Mr. Piccoli
Title: The Incredible Mr. Piccoli
Character: Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)
Released: May 28, 2017
Type: Movie
A captivating portrait of French actor Michel Piccoli, who has worked with the greatest filmmakers of his time and has built a dazzling career of remarkable merit and success, focusing on his work during the 1970s and his professional relationship with Claude Sautet, Romy Schneider, Marco Ferreri and Luis Buñuel.
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Discovering Buñuel
Title: Discovering Buñuel
Character: Self/Archive Footage
Released: January 1, 2012
Type: Movie
Luis Bunuel, the father of cinematic Surrealism, made his film debut with 'Un Chien Andalou' in 1929 working closely with Salvador Dali. Considered one of the finest and controversial filmmakers with, 'L’Age d’Or' (1930), attacking the church and the middle classes. He won many awards including Best Director at Cannes for 'Los Olvidados' (1950), and the coveted Palme d’Or for 'Viridiana' (1961), which had been banned in his native Spain. His career moved to France with 'The Diary of a Chambermaid' with major stars such as Jeanne Moreau and Catherine Deneuve.
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Catherine Deneuve, belle et bien là
Title: Catherine Deneuve, belle et bien là
Character: Self (archive footage)
Released: April 11, 2010
Type: Movie
Catherine Deneuve couldn’t care less about being a celebrity, but fame made her an icon long ago and she occupies a special place in our imagination. The star is not one to let others get too close, but when she gives you her confidence, she keeps her word. If Deneuve’s career covers a half-century of cinema, it also bears witness to the force of a generation that experienced the deepest transformation of mores. This portrait reflects her entirely. The story of a mystery and an adventure.
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tvSSFBM EHKL
Title: tvSSFBM EHKL
Character: Himself (archive footage)
Released: September 29, 2001
Type: Movie
A surreal film about surrealism.
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Speaking of Buñuel
Title: Speaking of Buñuel
Character: Himself
Released: June 9, 2000
Type: Movie
Surrealist master Luis Buñuel is a towering figure in the world of cinema history, directing such groundbreaking works as Un Chien Andalou, Exterminating Angels, and That Obscure Object of Desire, yet his personal life was clouded in myth and paradox. Though sexually diffident, he frequently worked in the erotic drama genre; though personally quite conservative, his films are florid, flamboyant, and utterly bizarre.
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Buñuel
Title: Buñuel
Character: Self
Released: January 1, 1984
Type: Movie
Completed a year after his death in 1983, this program presents the definitive biography of Spain’s renowned Surrealist film maker and iconoclast, Luis Buñuel. Using photographs, film excerpts, and numerous interviews with Bunuel, the video chronicles his early friendships with Salvador Dalí and Federico García Lorca, the stormy reactions to many of his groundbreaking films, and the influence he has had on international cinema. Among those interviewed are directors Federico Fellini, John Huston, and Jose L. Saenz De Heredia; Buñuel’s wife, Jeanne Rucar, and son Juan; actor Francisco Rabal; and Octavio Paz.
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The Life and Times of Don Luis Buñuel
Title: The Life and Times of Don Luis Buñuel
Character: Self
Released: October 26, 1983
Type: Movie
Made a year after Luis Buñuel's death in 1983 this is an illuminating portrait of the surreal and visionary director, featuring clips, archival interviews, and commentary from scholars and contemporaries including Catherine Deneuve, Fernando Rey, and Jeanne Moreau. Directed by Anthony Wall with readings from Buñuel's autobiography by Paul Scofield. Six trims to meet copyright restrictions.
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Title: Encyclopédie audiovisuelle du cinéma
Character: Self (archive footage)
Released: September 24, 1978
Type: TV
Produced for television by Claude-Jean Philippe, the « Encyclopédie audiovisuelle du cinéma », recounts the history of French cinema from its birth to the beginning of the 1960s. With commentary read by Jean Rochefort.
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On the Set of 'That Obscure Object of Desire'
Title: On the Set of 'That Obscure Object of Desire'
Character: self
Released: January 1, 1977
Type: Movie
Previously unseen 8mm footage from the shooting of That Obscure Object of Desire (Luis Buñuel, 1977).
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The Phantom of Liberty
Title: The Phantom of Liberty
Character: Un condamné à mort (uncredited)
Released: September 10, 1974
Type: Movie
This Surrealist film, with a title referencing the Communist Manifesto, strings together short incidents based on the life of director Luis Buñuel. Presented as chance encounters, these loosely related, intersecting situations, all without a consistent protagonist, reach from the 19th century to the 1970s. Touching briefly on subjects such as execution, pedophilia, incest, and sex, the film features an array of characters, including a sick father and incompetent police officers.
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Fall of a Body
Title: Fall of a Body
Character: Un invité (uncredited)
Released: September 28, 1973
Type: Movie
The body of a young woman falls on the terrace of Martha, who intrigued, meets her neighbor. In contact with this strange man, she learns to have a different look about her own life and her marital problems.
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The Castaway on the Street of Providence
Title: The Castaway on the Street of Providence
Character: Himself
Released: May 14, 1971
Type: Movie
Friends of Luis Buñuel discuss the director while Buñuel mixes drinks and entertains friends in his home.
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The Milky Way
Title: The Milky Way
Character: (voice) (uncredited)
Released: February 28, 1969
Type: Movie
Two men, part tramp, part pilgrim, are on their way to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. On their way they meet a whole assortment of people—some truculent, some violent, and some bizarre; they experience many adventures—some mysterious, some erotic, some even supernatural.
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Belle de Jour
Title: Belle de Jour
Character: Man in Gardencafe - Left from the Duke (uncredited)
Released: May 24, 1967
Type: Movie
Beautiful young housewife Séverine Serizy cannot reconcile her masochistic fantasies with her everyday life alongside dutiful husband Pierre. When her lovestruck friend Henri mentions a secretive high-class brothel run by Madame Anais, Séverine begins to work there during the day under the name Belle de Jour. But when one of her clients grows possessive, she must try to go back to her normal life.
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There Are No Thieves in This Village
Title: There Are No Thieves in This Village
Character: Cura
Released: September 9, 1965
Type: Movie
When a young boy steals billiard balls from a local saloon, a stranger is charged with the crime. The local layabouts find there is no reason to hang out at the bar without being able to shoot pool, and the boy entertains thoughts of forming a gang to steal more billiard balls in hopes of making money.
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Weeping for a Bandit
Title: Weeping for a Bandit
Character: El verdugo
Released: August 31, 1964
Type: Movie
José María "El Tempranillo" fleeing from justice, takes refuge in Sierra Morena. After a period of hard learning, he becomes the leader of a group of bandits.
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Cinéastes de notre temps : Luis Buñuel
Title: Cinéastes de notre temps : Luis Buñuel
Character: Self
Released: April 21, 1964
Type: Movie
An overview of Luis Buñuel's career. Includes an interview with the filmmaker.
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Title: Cinépanorama
Character: Self
Released: February 4, 1956
Type: TV
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L'Âge d'or
Title: L'Âge d'or
Character: (uncredited)
Released: November 28, 1930
Type: Movie
The film consists of a series of tightly interlinked vignettes, the most sustained of which details the story of a man and a woman who are passionately in love. Their attempts to consummate their passion are constantly thwarted, by their families, by the Church and bourgeois society in general.
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Un Chien Andalou
Title: Un Chien Andalou
Character: Man in Prologue (uncredited)
Released: June 5, 1929
Type: Movie
Un Chien Andalou is an European avant-garde surrealist film, a collaboration between director Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dali.
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Montparnasse
Title: Montparnasse
Released: April 30, 1929
Type: Movie
Come take an avant-garde walk in the Montparnasse of the late 1920's. This district of Paris, filmed in a most unusual way, shows how dedicated it is to art. Visit its art galleries and exhibitions, take a glimpse of famous painter Fujita, of Luis Buñuel eyeing the legs of beautiful Parisian passing the terrace of the café where he sits, of Italian futurists Marinetti, Prampolini and Russolo.
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Mauprat
Title: Mauprat
Character: Monk / Guardsman
Released: October 18, 1926
Type: Movie
Romantic novelist George Sand's Mauprat as adapted by cinema visionary Jean Epstein. As a child, orphan Bernard de Mauprat was adopted by Tristan, a brigand who brought him up with his biological sons to hate, kill and pillage. Hubert de Mauprat, the elder brother of Tristan, the very incarnation of nobility, and his daughter, the beautiful and intrepid Edmée, undertake to tear wild-eyed Bernard away from his uncle. Still uncouth and rough, Bernard endeavors to wrest the love of Edmée away from her betrothed.
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Carmen
Title: Carmen
Character: Contrebandier chez lillas pastia
Released: January 1, 1926
Type: Movie
Feyder's scenario very closely follows Don José's own account of his story and his fatal relation with the gypsy Carmen in the third chapter of Mérimée's short novel.