That Obscure Object of Desire - Criterion Collection
by Luis Bu?uel
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Actor: ?ngela Molina, Andr? Weber, Carole Bouquet, Fernando Rey, Julien BertheauDirector: Luis Bu?uel
Cinematographer: Edmond Richard
Writer: Luis Bu?uel
Editor: H?l?ne Plemiannikov
Producer: Serge Silberman
Writer: Jean-Claude Carri?re
Writer: Pierre Lou?s
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Subtitled)
Format: Anamorphic, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.66:1
Running Time: 102 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2001-11-20
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Criterion
DVD Reviews of That Obscure Object of Desire - Criterion Collection
DVD Review: La donna e mobile ...
Summary: 5 Stars
It is common practice in Hollywood to take a successful old movie and remake it. Producers only care about maximizing their investments, so if a story made money the first time, why not try again? On the other hand, there are movies that would never be made today, let alone remade. "That Obscure Object of Desire" is one of those movies. The level of ability it takes to make this movie is way beyond what we have today, in any case - Spielberg and Scorsese are pikers compared to Bunuel - which is a pity.
But there are other reasons as well.
This movie is the last thing Bunuel did and shows that his creative powers did not diminish one bit as he got older, quite the contrary. Of course, it helps to have for inspiration the likes of Carole Bouquet and Angela Molina, vastly different women, each beautiful in her own way, but playing the same character. Yes, that's right. Two different actresses play the same role in this movie. Has anyone ever thought of that before or since? That's a key reason why this movie works.
You can do some research on the question and get lots of different answers from various and sundry critics and film buffs, including Bunuel's own explanation - he was drunk when he thought of it, he said (tongue in cheek, no doubt.) The reason for picking Bouquet and Molina to play the same part is quite simple, actually. One is the Madonna-type - Bouquet's angelic good looks and perfectly symmetrical features got the attention of Chanel later - the other the whore, the two key sides of a woman's character according to Bunuel. I told you this movie would never be made today, and that's a reason why.
The middle-aged male protagonist in the movie, Mathieu, vacillates (oscillates, rather like a needle) between the two, and is played brilliantly by Fernando Rey (Frog One in "The French Connection.") This Matt dude is frustrated in the extreme trying to bed the lady (ladies). Bunuel has a lot of fun with this pursuit theme that I'm sure even teenage boys today, familiar with the "hot/cold, yes/but no" behavior of cheerleaders, would identify with. As in my other reviews, however, I won't give away whether Matt succeeds in his quest, or which of the two ladies he manages to, um, penetrate. Enjoy the show and maybe urge Hollywood to make movies like this at least every once in a while. It might just encourage some budding young director to aim higher.
P.S. The title is a joke, since the object of desire isn't obscure at all, which is why the train scene features a midget shrink, i.e., Freud is obvious stuff and small potatoes.
DVD Review: Do NOT read anything about this movie or it will be ruined!
Summary: 5 Stars
Unlike most, I was lucky enough to see this film for the first time without knowing anything about it. It ran on PBS on a saturday night. I was completely blown away. Later, I wanted to own a copy. I was horrified to see that the accompanying literature pretty much gives away the surprise, right on the box. The surprise has been ruined for 90% of the people who are lucky enough to enjoy this surrealistic experience of a movie. In summary, this movie pretty much says it all about the relationship between man and woman. Enough said. DVD Review: The Devil Is a Woman
Summary: 5 Stars
The last film of a great master, his "swan song" was based on the novel "La femme et le pantin" written by Pierre Lou?s. The novel has been adapted to the screen eight times, and among the films are Josef Von Sternberg's "The Devil Is a Woman" with Marlene Dietrich, Julien Duvivier's "La Femme et le Pantin" with Brigitte Bardot, and The Woman and the Puppet (1920) directed by Reginald Barker with Geraldine Farrar, American opera star from the Metropolitan Opera (1906-1922), one of the great beauties of her day, as well as one of the great voices of all time. It is not surprising that Luis Bunuel chose for his film the story of obsession, desire and all kinds of obstacles, including social, religious, and sexual that make it impossible to fulfill. All his films are explorations of the same theme, starting with the early "L'?ge d'or". "That obscure object of desire" is a story of Mathieu, a middle age businessman (Fernando Rey who had given great performances in four Bunuel's films), and a young woman named Conchita -- played by two different actresses (French serene beauty Carole Bouquet and Spanish sensual ?ngela Molina) -- who alternately captivates and torments him. The director described his film as a "story of impossibility to own a woman's body". Luis Bu?uel claims that there were neither a reason nor an explanation for using two actresses for the same role, he just felt that it would be right: "I don't know why it should be two. It was automatic" (from the DVD interview). When asked, what the obscure object of desire is, Buunuel answered: "I don't know." I think it is the best answer. How could the obscure object of desire be described or defined? Bunuel was able to recreate in the movie the atmosphere of danger, uncertainly and insecurity. Wherever the main character goes in search of his object of desire, there are always bombings, shootings, and theft.
DVD Review: The Last Temptation of Luis Bunuel...
Summary: 5 Stars
''That Obscure Object of Desire'' is one of the highest achievements in sound cinema, one of the greatest films ever made...you get the idea!!!
It's perhaps Bunuel's greatest film or if not, the one that reflects with finality his philosophy and his view of life. It's a viewpoint that's at one and at the same time pessimistic and compassionate, corrosive and tender, angry and despairing, comic and tragic.
Given that these pardoxes exist simultaneously, Bunuel's infamous decision of having the female character played by two very different actresses(and then being dubbed by a third); as well as casting two of his favourite actors - Fernando Rey and Michel Piccoli in the same role with the former playing the character physically and the latter his voice fits like a glove and seems the least strange in the world of this film. The world of this film moreover is not that far apart from the world proper even if thirty years seperate the time of it's release from today.
Bunuel's film is an adaptation of a famous French novel(which served the basis for Sternberg's ''The Devil Is A Woman'') which I have not read. Yet I have no doubt that Bunuel's film has a sensibility that's entirely different from the text. An old artistocract, Mathieu falls in love with a woman named Conchita but due to their strong will and sense of freedom are unable to physically consummate their relationship. Their love for each other becomes a kind of madness on each character's part as well as part of their game of torturing each other psychologically and spiritually, culminating in violence.
The film is about human beings who are never able to precisely know what they want or desire and in the case of their relationships with human beings what they want or desire from them and what they in turn desire from you. And if the object of desire is forever obscure, than finding it is not only very difficult it's also futile in a world where people are under permanent Swords of Damocles' where terrorist attacks can make one's search for the object of one's desire utterly futile and meaningless.
Throughout his career and his many stages through the different kinds of movies he's made Bunuel has sought to illustrate that the world we live is far from the best of all possible worlds and that humans are forever victims to their own flaws and vanities as well as the world at large. Yet as caustic and sarcastic as his sensibility is, Bunuel's relationship to his characters(with the exception of ''The Discreet Charm...'' and ''Le Fantome de la Liberte'') seem to be of compassion rather than hatred. Only Bunuel I suppose could treat characters like Mathieu and Conchita seriously and find humanity within them despite the absolute violence they inflict on each other.
Casting helps in a big way, Fernando Rey(whose last name appropriately means ''king'') helped bring to life Bunuel's most bizarre characters with charisma and taste. Though we recognize the flaws of Mathieu's character we harbour no dislike for him and fully acknowledge in the scene before last, where he observes a woman knitting a torn, blood stained sheet that he deserves the fleeting sense of peace that he finally recognized as his real ''object of desire''.
DVD Review: Exploration on human sexual relationships
Summary: 3 Stars
An interesting exploration on human sexual relationship. Without minimizing Bunuel's importance in world cinema, this movie is still stuck in its own time and place. It would be difficult for younger generations to relate to the exploration of the older man's obsession for the young woman and their kinky, if twisted, relationship presented in this film. It is interesting that director is using two very different acresses for the role of the main female character, which is what makes this film truly unique. But, if you are to watch a presentation of the complexity of human (sexual and emotional) relationship, and you belong to a younger generation, your better choice would be to watch film "Secretary" with Maggie Guyenhall.
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