UN CHIEN ANDALOU / Luis Bunuel & Salvador Dali (1929)
November 13th, 2007 by Scott Marks
UN CHIEN ANDALOU (1929)
Written and Directed by Luis Bunuel & Salvador Dali
Starring: Pierre Batcheff, Simone Mareuil, Salvador Dali as “The Seminarist” and Luis Bunuel as “Man With Razor”
Running Time: 18 min.
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Rating: 
Luis Bunuel bookended his career with a straight razor slicing open an eyeball and civilization as we know it blowing up.
If ever a director ripped at our retinas and forced us to confront images that cause most normal folk to cringe and look the other way, it was Bunuel.
Un Chien Andalou was born when Bunuel told Salvador Dali of a dream he had in which a cloud sliced across the moon. Dali, too, had been having strange imaginings of late. His consisted of ants crawling from inside a hand.
There was one rule when it came to writing the screenplay: The only thing the succession of images would have in common is the fact that they have nothing in common. Its purpose: to document desire and shock.
Un Chien Andalou caused a furor when it opened. Bunuel anticipated adversity and attended the premiere with pockets filled with rocks in case he had to ward off livid patrons.
After countless viewings, the film actually begins to make sense. Rely on recurring patterns and the film’s razor sharp (sorry) sense of humor to chart your path. Bunuel was a very funny man and not enough is written about his ability to convulse an audience with his pitch-black sense of humor. Perhaps the absurdity doesn’t register on an initial viewing and people are too creeped out to pay a return visit in search of laughter.
Fittingly enough, the only clinker in an otherwise spotless and splendid filmography is Bunuel’s version of Wuthering Heights which contains not so much as a smile.
Tags: Luis Bunuel, Salvador Dali, UN CHIEN ANDALOU