The Focus accompanying the retrospective of Luis Buñuel is in itself a history of cinema, tracing the films that Buñuel himself studied through to contemporary cinema that bears traces of that influence.
The Focus accompanying the retrospective of Luis Buñuel is in itself a history of cinema, tracing the films that Buñuel himself studied through to contemporary cinema that bears traces of that influence.
Our main reference has been Buñuel’s memoirs, Mi último suspiro (My Last Breath) (1982). Drawing on this source, we present a non-exhaustive list of films that not only influenced Buñuel but that he went on to influence. We could call it the ‘Buñuel Universe’.
The relationships are at times very direct (political, cinematic and formal themes), at others less evident, in the form of a distant dialogue.
We have tried to create a map with which to broaden the scope of the retrospective and to leave a Buñuelian genealogical record for the films of the future.
The BUÑUEL + PLUS cycle includes, in addition to screenings that complement the retrospective, a wide range of titles with some connection to this Buñuelian universe as well as a series of texts put together by a group of students from the third curatorial intake at the Elías Querejeta Film School: Paula González García, Simon Petri-Lukács, Blanca Velasco, Anna Babos and Adrián García Prado.
The list has been put together with the help of the Donostia Kultura film team. Tabakalera has coordinated the materials and the spotlight.
BLOCK I: A selection of films that Buñuel saw in his youth and which, based on his memoirs, were an important influence on him.
Session 1.
Origins of film. Towards surrealism (75 min)
Going to Bed Under Difficulties, Georges Méliès, France, 1900, 2 min
The Dancing Pig, Pathé Frères, France, 1907, 3 min
The Electric Hotel, Segundo de Chomón, France, 1908, 9 min
The Haunted House, Buster Keaton and Edward F. Cline, USA, 1921, 21 min
The Seashell and the Clergyman, Germaine Dulac, France, 1928, 32 min
For Your Beautiful Eyes, Henri Storck, Belgium, 1929, 8 min
Session 2.
Destiny, Fritz Lang, Germany, 1921, 105 min
Session 3
Dead of Night, Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden, Robert Hamer, UK, 1945, 103 min
Session 4
Shoeshine, Vittorio De Sica, Italy, 1946, 93 min
Session 5
Portrait of Jennie, William Dieterle, USA, 1948, 86 min
BLOCK II: Films clearly influenced by Buñuel, whether in terms of theme, form, politics, critique, surrealism, customs, religion, excesses or freedom. We look at the films decade by decade, starting with the 1960s through to the present day.
Session 6
Salt of the Earth, Herbert J. Biberman, 1954, USA, 95 min
Session 7
Fando and Lis, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Mexico, 1968, 93 min
Session 8
Sweet Movie, Dusan Makavejev, Canada, 1974, 95 min
Session 9
A New Leaf, Elaine May, USA, 1971, 102 min
The Heartbreak Kid, Elaine May, USA, 1972, 104 min
Session 10
Marquis, Henri Xhonneux, France, 1989, 83 min
Session 11
Conspirators of Pleasure, Jan Švankmajer, Czech Republic, 1996, 82 min
Session 12
4, Ilya Khrzhanovsky, Russia, 2005, 126 min
Session 13
The Love Witch, Anna Biller, USA, 2016, 120 min
BUÑUEL UNIVERSE: The list is accompanied by a series of texts in which the working group sets out the reasons for selecting some of the films. We sought to showcase the prevalence of Buñuel's spirit and the echoes of his work in other movies throughout the history of film. The first text is by Anna Babos.
Going to Bed Under Difficulties, Georges Méliès, France, 1900, 2 min
The Dancing Pig, Pathé Frères, France, 1907, 3 min
The Red Spectre, Segundo de Chomón, France, 1907, 10 min
The Electric Hotel, Segundo de Chomón, France, 1908, 9 min
Entente cordiale, Max Linder, France, 1912, 14 min
The Haunted House, Buster Keaton and Edward F. Cline, USA, 1921, 21 min
Destiny, Fritz Lang, Germany, 1921, 105 min
Battleship Potemkin, Sergei M. Eisenstein, USSR, 1925, 77 min
Underworld, Josef von Sternberg, USA, 1927, 80 min
College, James W. Horne and Buster Keaton, USA, 1927, 68 min
The Fall of the House of Usher, Jean Epstein, 1928, 63 min
White Shadows in the South Seas W.S. Van Dyke and Robert J. Flaherty, EUA, 1928, 88 min
The Seashell and the Clergyman, Germaine Dulac, France, 1928, 32 min
For Your Beautiful Eyes, Henri Storck, Belgium, 1929, 8 min
Les mystères du château de Dé, Man Ray, France, 1929, 20 min
Hyppolit, the Butler, Steve Sekely, Hungary, 1931, 76 min
The Blood of a Poet , Jean Cocteau, France, 1932, 55 min
Freaks, Tod Browning, USA, 1932, 64 min
L'Atalante, Jean Vigo, France, 1934, 82 min
Wuthering Heights, William Wyler, USA, 1939, 103 min
It Happened at the Inn, Jacques Becker, France, 1943, 104 min
Dead of Night, Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden, Robert Hamer, UK, 1945, 103 min
The Beast with Five Fingers, Robert Florey, USA, 1946, 88 min
Shoeshine, Vittorio De Sica, Italy, 1946, 93 min
The Diary of a Chambermaid, Jean Renoir, USA, 1946, 86 min
Monsieur Verdoux, Charles Chaplin, USA, 1947, 123 min
It Happened in Europe, Géza von Radványi, Hungary, 1947, 100 min
Portrait of Jennie, William Dieterle, USA, 1948, 86 min
Bicycle Thieves, Vittorio De Sica, Italy, 1948, 93 min
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, John Huston, USA, 1948, 126 min
Manon, H.G. Clouzot, France, 1949, 101 min
Forbidden Games, René Clément, France, 1952, 86 min
Umberto D., Vittorio De Sica, Italy, 1952, 84 min
Salt of the Earth, Herbert J. Biberman, 1954, USA, 95 min
La strada, Federico Fellini, Italy, 1954, 103 min
Nights of Cabiria, Federico Fellini, Italy, 1957, 110 min
Paths of Glory, Stanley Kubrick, USA, 1957, 86 min
Ashes and Diamonds, Andrzej Wajda, Poland, 1958, 98 min
Vertigo, Alfred Hitchcock, USA, 1958, 120 min
L’imitation du cinéma, Marcel Mariën, Belgium, 1960, 34 min
La dolce vita, Federico Fellini, Italy, 1960, 175 min
Tlayucan, Luis Alcoriza, Mexico, 1961, 105 min
The Exiles, Kent MacKenzie, USA, 1961, 72 min
The House Is Black, Forugh Farrokhzad, Iran, 1963, 22 min
The Servant, Joseph Losey, UK, 1963, 115 min
Woman in the Dunes, Hiroshi Teshigahara, Japan, 1964, 147 min
Black God, White Devil, Glauber Rocha, Brazil, 1964, 120 min
Marnie, Alfred Hitchcock, USA, 1964, 129 min
Lilith, Robert Rossen, USA, 1964, 114 min
The Saragossa Manuscript, Wojciech Has, Poland, 1965, 182 min
Night Games, Mai Zetterling, Sweden, 1966, 105 min
The Hunt, Carlos Saura, Spain, 1966, 93 min
Persona, Ingmar Bergman, Sweden, 1966, 81 min
Death of a Bureaucrat, Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, Cuba, 1966, 85 min
Calanda, Juan Luis Buñuel, France, 1967, 21 min
Weekend, Jean-Luc Godard, France, 1967, 105 min
The Desert Archipelago, Katsu Kanai, Japan, 1969, 56 min
Johnny Got His Gun, Dalton Trumbo, USA, 1971, 111 min
El náufrago de la calle Providencia, Rafael Castanedo and Arturo Ripstein, Mexico, 1971, 49 min
Sinbad, Zoltán Huszárik, Hungary, 1971, 90 min
A New Leaf, Elaine May, USA, 1971, 102 min
The Heartbreak Kid, Elaine May, USA, 1972, 104 min
Past and Present, Manoel de Oliveira, Portugal, 1972, 116 min
Roma, Federico Fellini, Italy, 1972, 128 min
Fat City, John Huston, USA, 1972, 96 min
Far from the Trees, Jacinto Esteva, Spain, 1972, 100 min
Cousin Angelica, Carlos Saura, Spain, 1973, 107'
La Grande Bouffe, Marco Ferreri, France, 1973, 125 min
Spain!, Peter Nestler, Germany, 1973, 43 min
Elektra, My Love, Miklós Jancsó, Hungary, 1974, 70 min
Sweet Movie, Dusan Makavejev, Canada, 1974, 95 min
Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Italy, 1975, 117 min
Who Can Kill a Child?, Narciso Ibáñez Serrador, Spain, 1976, 100 min
Ajándék ez a nap, Péter Gothár, Hungary, 1979, 83 min
Pixote, Héctor Babenco, Brazil, 1981, 127 min
City of Pirates, Raoul Ruiz, France, 1983, 111 min
And the Ship Sails On, Federico Fellini, Italy, 1983, 132 min
Under the Volcano, John Huston, USA, 1984, 109 min
Barres, Luc Moullet, France, 1984, 17 min
The Realm of Fortune, Arturo Ripstein, Mexico, 1985 , 135 min
Idő van, Péter Gothár, Hungary, 1986, 112 min
Essai d'ouverture, Luc Moullet, France, 1988, 15 min
Marquis, Henri Xhonneux, France, 1989, 83 min
Santa sangre, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Mexico, 1989, 123 min
Hyenas, Djibril Diop Mambéty, Senegal, 1992, 110 min
The Red Squirrel, Julio Medem, Spain, 1993, 114 min
Elle, Valeria Sarmiento, France, 1995, 86 min
Conspirators of Pleasure, Jan Švankmajer, Czech Republic, 1996, 82 min
Lost Highway, David Lynch, USA, 1997, 134 min
Songs from the Second Floor, Roy Andersson, Sweden, 2000, 98 min
Der Milchshorf: La costra láctea, Velasco Broca, Spain, 2002, 9 min
The Holy Girl, Lucrecia Martel, Argentina, 2004, 106 min
4, Ilya Khrzhanovsky, Russia, 2005, 126 min
Battle in Heaven, Carlos Reygadas, Mexico, 2005, 88 min
Belle toujours, Manoel de Oliveira, Portugal, 2006, 70 min
Taxidermia, György Pálfi, Hungary, 2006, 91 min
Dry martini (Buñuelino cocktail), Adolfo Arrieta, Spain, 2008, 10 min
Misterio, Chema García Ibarra, Spain, 2013, 12 min
Borgman, Alex van Warmerdam, Netherlands, 2013, 113 min
Magical Girl, Carlos Vermut, Spain, 2014, 127 min
The Love Witch, Anna Biller, USA, 2016, 120 min
The Untamed, Amat Escalante, Mexico, 2016, 100 min
We Are the Flesh, Emiliano Rocha Minter, Mexico, 2016, 80 min
The Killing of a Sacred Deer, Yorgos Lanthimos, UK, 2017, 121 min
High Life, Claire Denis, France, 2018, 110 min
X&Y, Anna Odell, Sweden, 2018, 112 min
Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles, Salvador Simó Busom, Spain, 2018, 86 min
Parasite, Bong Joon-ho, South Korea, 2019, 132 min
TEXTS:
My Last Breath, Luis Buñuel:
Johnny Got His Gun, Dalton Trumbo, USA, 1971, 111 min
We can use this film as a beautiful exercise by approaching it as one of Luis Buñuel’s ‘ghost’ projects. That is, films that Buñuel could have directed; films that he worked on and was asked to direct but which, in the end, he wasn’t able to take on. The inclusion of such films on the list sparks an exercise of the imagination: what would these films have been like if Buñuel had directed them?
‘Of the books I’ve read, one in particular blew me away. It’s Johnny Got His Gun, by Dalton Trumbo. After losing almost all parts of his body in the war, a soldier lies in a hospital bed with only his consciousness as he attempts to communicate with those around him, none of whom he can see or hear.
I should have made the film, paid by Alatriste, in 1962 or 1963. Dalton Trumbo, who wrote the script (he was one of the most celebrated screenwriters in Hollywood), came to Mexico on several occasions to work with me. I talked and talked; he only took notes. Though few of my ideas ended up in the script he was gracious enough to put both of our names on it, but I refused.
The project was a failure. Ten years later, Trumbo himself managed to make the film. I saw it at Cannes and I was with Trumbo at his press conference. Something interesting remained in a film that’s too long, and unfortunately illustrated with academic dreams’.
Adrián García Prado:
Spain!, Peter Nestler, Germany, 1973, 43 min
Related principally to Las Hurdes, filmed in 1932. That same year, Buñuel joined the Communist Party of Spain and cut ties with the surrealist movement. This completely silent movie was prohibited and cancelled. He added sound in 1937, at the height of the Spanish Civil War, and added a notice at the end of the film changing the year it was recorded. Now the year is 1933, when the anti-republican right-wing parties had seized power. The film soon became an anti-fascist battlefield. Las Hurdes was not just a region whose living conditions and misery are hard to take in but a tool for denouncing the country's moral corruption at the hands of fascism. In 1973, Nestler interviewed various members of the International Brigades and members of the Workers’ Commissions in different regions of Europe. Almost four decades later, objects, people and landscapes take the floor once more. Who writes history? To whom does the memory of past battles belong to? Nestler’s movie is somewhat revisionist. A new story is about to be told, the story of those who were there, on the ground, of those who took charge of carrying out decisions in the heat of the battle for a more just world. But was it really like that? Nestler finds the just trace of the past on the faces of the fighters and in the arid landscape of a Francoist Spain in its death throes. The past is not sealed off. The camera sneaks through the cracks like a snake. Voices go with it. History dawns once again.
Buñuel’s inclusion of such elements as a goat falling down a gorge and a donkey being devoured by wasps ensured the political impact of the film. For Nestler, on the other hand, the world is out there. It exists, so why manipulate it? Nestler adds nothing yet creates images of the world. This approach even resulted in him dubbing the voices of the people giving monologues in front of the camera with dry, neutral German. You could say that Buñuel cheats whereas Nestler tries to avoid it, though that would not be entirely accurate. Both films viewed in the modern day ensure the possibility of a memory, rather than History with a capital H, in a perpetual state of change.
Babos Anna:
Hyppolit a lakáj (Hyppolit, el lacayo), Steve Sekely, Hungría, 1931, 76'
Trouble in Paradise, Ernst Lubitsch, EUA, 1932, adapted from a play of László Aladár.
My Man Godfrey, Gregory La Cava, EUA, 1936.
Il signor Max, Mario Camerini, Italia, 1937. Starring Vittorio De Sica, a communist star of fascist films, which makes an interesting connection with Hyppolit, a lakáj and the other Hungarian (a similarly right-wing country at the time) comedies of its period, which all feature Kabos Gyula – a very stereotypically Jewish man – in their leading role.
Holiday, George Cukor, EUA, 1938. The archetypical non-conformist comedy, starring its archetypical leading lady, Katherine Hepburn.
La règle du jeu, Jean Renoir, Francia, 1939. The quintessential La guerra è vicina film, foreshadowing the consequences of bourgeois antisemitism with intense sinisterness, which connects it to Hyppolit, a lakáj, a film that tackles the same issue but with charm and lightness.
The thematically transgressing yet formally classical comedies of the 1930s questioned social norms, celebrated non-conformist modes of life and ridiculed the seriousness of the ruling classes with no less upsetting force than the modernist, highbrow European films of the late 1960s and the early 1970s. Even though the idea of mass entertainment in the diverse career of Luis Buñuel is rather associated with his period in Mexico directing adaptations of Emily Brontë or Daniel Defoe, I would argue that very similarly to the listed comedies from thirty years earlier, the grandiose and highly artistic French films from Buñuel’s last period also have an easily enjoyable and accessible surface that, before and beyond other virtues, offer a lot of fun and comic cinematic pleasure. Even more importantly, the sheer presence and in fact the championing of the non-conformist characters in these excitingly different films, periods and film cultures prove to me that it’s not just a universally comprehensible genre of comedies but a fundamental form of social criticism, crucial to both the listed films and Buñuel himself. They also connect on another level; namely the level of production and how it was necessitated by European fascism. The life of Buñuel, a life spent largely in exile isn’t only shared by major auteurs like Ernst Lubitsch and Jean Renoir but many writers and dramatists as well who brought the very Austro-Hungarian type of comedy of errors with a touch of P.G. Woodhouse to America. Their immense contribution to Hollywood cinema is only investigated earnestly if they ended up being directors as well – Billy Wilder being the foremost example. Yet, there are countless playwrights, such as László Aladár or László Miklós, whose concepts strongly influenced Hollywood to present leftist views of society in comedies. The Italian comedies from the Mussolini era are also worthy to look at in the context of political puzzlement – this particular one stars the openly communist Vittorio De Sica. Another instance of parallel lines, along which I’d connect these films and Buñuel’s last ones is the matter of sexuality and political incorrectness. Though it’s much less discussed, the 1920s up to the early 1930s were extremely decadent times – look no further than to the cinema of Erich von Stroheim – thus played a huge part in making way for the sexual revolutions of the 1960s – for instance with the change of women’s clothing. Both the selected comedies and the films of Buñuel tackle this with joyous approval and sardonic critique, amounting to a bewildering complexity.