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Review of the DVD and its extras

In addition to the film Un Chien Andalou, the DVD also contains a short documentary about Buñuel narrated by Buñuel’s son Jean-Luis, a bonus interview with Jean-Luis regarding Dali, and an audio commentary track by Stephen Barber. Barber’s commentary is couched heavily in Freudian terms of sex and death and makes constant reference to Germaine Dulac’s film (based on a work by Antonin Artaud) The Seashell and the Clergyman, which had actually been released prior to Un Chien Andalou and is therefore technically “the first Surrealist film.” Whether Surrealist cinema was actually so heavily laden with Freudian themes or it just appears so in retrospect due to these themes being contemporary with Surrealist cinema, and thus more salient to us, is never addressed by Barber. I think there is much more to this film than is discussed in the audio commentary, and the insight provided by Jean-Luis Buñuel in the documentary more than makes up for Barber’s Freudian musings, which Jean-Luis dismisses out of hand. Also, the bonus interview footage with Jean-Luis is particularly interesting, as he discusses, almost apologetically, the extent of Dali’s vainglory and why he lost all of his real friends over the years. In case you have only seen Un Chien Andalou in an art museum, the bonus materials really add a lot to this DVD, and I highly recommend it.