The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
Le charme discret de la bourgeoisie
Synopsis
Luis Buñuel’s satire follows the exploits of a group of bourgeois friends whose attempts to have a sophisticated dinner seems to be constantly foiled by the most bizarre of circumstances. Buñuel takes no prisoners, pulling his characters from the ruling elite of business, military, state and church.
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Awards & Festivals
Academy Awards
1973 | Winner: Best Foreign Language Film
1973 | Nominee: Best Writing, Story and Screenplay Based on Factual Material or Material Not Previously Published or Produced
Watching this for the first time took every muscle in my appreciation mechanism. The satire is sharp, the tone startling, the humor cathartic.
Alan Rudolph
July 18, 2018
Luis Buñuel’s 1972 film boasts one of the best titles in movie history and a cast to match… Buñuel invites us to savor their endless frustration and feast on their irrational impulses. Blithely discontinuous, Discreet Charm has echoes of Buñuel’s early surrealist films, although its episodic, interlocking stories suggest the influence of The Saragossa Manuscript and Godard’s Weekend.
J. Hoberman
October 03, 2006
If LE CHARME DISCRET DE LA BOURGEOISIE registers as the funniest Buñuel film since L’AGE D’OR, probably the most relaxed and controlled film he has ever made, and arguably the first contemporary, global masterpiece to have come from France in the 70s, this is chiefly because he has arrived at a form that covers his full range, permits him to say anything — a form that literally and figuratively lets him get away with murder.
Jonathan Rosenbaum
December 01, 1972
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