The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie



In Luis Buñuel's deliciously satiric masterpiece, an upper-class sextet sits down to dinner but never eats, their attempts continually thwarted by a vaudevillian mixture of events both actual and imagined. Fernando Rey, Stéphane Audran, Delphine Seyring, and Jean-Pierre Cassel head the extraordinary cast of this 1972 Oscar winner for Best Foreign Film. Criterion is proud to present The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie in an exclusive Special Edition Double-Disc Set.

Special Features

-Beautiful new widescreen high-definition transfer of the film, enhanced for 16×9 televisions
-El náufrago de la calle de Providencia (The Castaway on the Street of Providence, 1970): a 24-minute documentary homage to Buñuel by his longtime friends Arturo Ripstein and Rafael Castanedo
-A propósito de Buñuel (Speaking of Buñuel, 2000): a new 98-minute documentary on the life and work of Buñuel by Jose Luis López-Linares and Javier Rioyo
-Buñuel filmography
-Original theatrical trailer
-New and improved optional English subtitle translation
-Optimal image quality: RSDL dual-layer edition

Criterionforum.org user rating averages

Film Forum (NYC) press release:

October 6-12 One Week!
Luis Buñuel's THE DISCREET CHARM OF THE BOURGEOISIE
New 35mm Print!
(1972) It's mealus interruptus (and coitus interruptus and un- interruptus) for the six friends at Stéphane Audran's sophisticated cocktail party where everything (and nothing) happens: the group arrives (and re-arrives) to find they've gotten the day wrong, the proprietor lies dead in the next room, the army drops in for maneuvers, the cops decide to make a major drug bust, a complete stranger joins them to tell of his ghost-ridden and murderous childhood. But no matter what, these bourgeois will always maintain their gracious politesse and style in Buñuel's hallucinatory masterpiece.

So does that mean we'll be getting a Criterion re-release?

I doubt it. The current DVD is six years old, and I can hardly imagine it looking any better. Has anyone had any complaints about the disc?

Yes. It presents the film in the wrong aspect ratio. The box advertises the correct 1.66:1 but the transfer is around 1.78:1. I love Bunuel's work enough that I would go ahead and buy a re-release of this. But regardless of projected sales figures for this I think Criterion should admit their mistake and correct it.

I just saw this today. What a strange, strange movie, and I think I'll have to think about it a while. Thoroughly amusing and strangely gripping, and about as dark as a leopard in a submarine.

great... you're hooked... now watch more Buñuel!

Sounds like you might be ready for a flock of sheep and a bear at a dinner party. (viz. Exterminating Angel)

or two actresses and one character. (viz. That Obscure Object of Desire)

Caught this one on the Sundance Channel (DVR). This is the first Buñuel movie I've unequivocally loved from start to finish without reservations or feeling the pressure to 'get' the man behind the surrealist narrative. I liked "Viridiana" and "Obscure Object of Desire" enough, but "Bourgeoisie" was just a pleasant 'sit back and LOL along with the flick' romp. Fernando Rey just oozes movie star coolness as he struggles with his unending plight of gettind down to enjoy dinner. Using sharp satire (a Bishop that is treated differently when he dresses up as a gardener), dream-within-a-dream logic (just where are these six people walking toward down that road?) and social commentary (we root for Rey's character when he's confronted by a woman terrorist even though she's technically the good guy) Buñuel delivers the laughs at an almost fever-pitch pace (for him). Even the supporting actors in minor roles (particularly Milena Vukotic's Ines) get their little moments of wacky cool under the director's spotlight. "The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie" is neither discreet or charming but it's certainly as accessible and funny as Buñuel movies come. Did I mention Fernando Rey is one cool, suave and classy mother f***er?

Between this film and Obscure Object, has anyone ever looked more at ease in a silk dressing gown than Fernando Rey?

I like the section in the Criterion Contraption piece about the intercut scenes of the characters 'walking down the road of life' and sticking to the marked highway as being more purposeful and motivated than just aimless wandering. In a way it is as condemnatory of the characters as being purposeless would be. Making them more single minded and mercenary in the pursuit of their goals.

Pauline Kael once called Rey "probably the most believable man of the world in contemporary movies", and it's hard to think of a plausible alternative.

Might be time to move on from my beloved Criterion DVD. :-/ Mixed feelings.

There is room for improvement over the decent Criterion release.