The Discreet Charm Of The Bourgeoisie - English subtitled
Surreal comedy about a group of well-to-do friends who are constantly disturbed while trying to dine together. Winner of the 1973 Oscar for best foreign film.
Luis Buñuel’s classic The Discreet Charm Of The Bourgeoisie is a satirical and absurdist take on the hypocrisy and social conventions of the bourgeoisie. The film follows a group of friends who try to have a dinner together, but are interrupted all the time by bizarre and inexplicable events. Buñuel uses these comic disruptions to expose the superficiality of their existence.
The story is set in a dreamlike atmosphere, where the boundaries between reality and delusion are blurred and the characters are trapped in their own illusions of sophistication and elegance. Through surrealism and black humour, Buñuel offers a sharp critique of class differences. The lack of logic and the repeated failure of the group’s attempts at a meal are a metaphor for the emptiness of their pursuit of status and desire for a world they themselves cannot understand.
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie brilliantly unmasks the apparent civility of the bourgeoisie while challenging the audience to reflect on the absurdity of their own social conventions. A true masterpiece by Buñuel, who had his breakthrough in 1929 with the short film Un Chien Andalou, made in collaboration with Salvador Dalí.