The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972)

Original title

Le Charme discret de la bourgeoisie

Directed by

Luis Buñuel

Genre

drama film, fantasy film, comedy film

Country

France, Italy, Spain

Runtime

1h 36m

Rated

PG

Rating

7.5 of 10 from 924 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A group of wealthy friends try to have dinner together, but their plans keep getting interrupted by strange and illogical events. The film mixes their attempts at socializing with their own dreams and fantasies.

surrealsatiricalabsurddreamlikedryly comicunsettlingslow-pacedcynical

What happens

The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (French: Le Charme discret de la bourgeoisie) is a 1972 surrealist satirical dark comedy film directed by Luis Buñuel, who wrote the screenplay in collaboration with Jean-Claude Carrière. The narrative concerns a group of French bourgeoisie and the fictional South American country of Miranda's ambassador to France attempting—despite continual interruptions—to dine together. The film stars Fernando Rey, Paul Frankeur, Delphine Seyrig, Bulle Ogier, Stéphane Audran, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Julien Bertheau and Milena Vukotic. The film consists of several thematically linked scenes: five gatherings of a group of bourgeois friends, and the four dreams of different characters. The beginning of the film focuses on the gatherings, while the latter part focuses on the dreams, but both are intertwined. There are also scenes involving other characters, including two in which a Maoist terrorist from Miranda attempts to assassinate the ambassador. The film's world is not logical, and the bizarre events are accepted by the characters. The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie was a critical and commercial success. It won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and BAFTA Awards for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Audran) and Best Original Screenplay (Buñuel and Carrière). (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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