A propósito de Buñuel (2000)

Directors:

José Luis López-Linares
Javier Rioyo

Writer:

Agustín Sánchez Vidal (writer)

Release Date:

9 June 2000 (Mexico)

Genre:

Documentary

Plot Keywords:

Cinema

Cast

Ernesto Alonso	...	Él mismo
Jacqueline Andere	...	Ella misma
Pedro Armendáriz Jr.	...	Él mismo
Stéphane Audran	...	Ella misma
José Luis Barros	...	Él mismo
José Bello	...	Él mismo
Lucia Bosé	...	Herself
Carole Bouquet	...	Ella misma
Conchita Buñuel	...	Ella misma
Juan Luis Buñuel	...	Él mismo
Luis Buñuel	...	él mismo (archive footage)
Margarita Buñuel	...	Ella misma
Rafael Buñuel	...	Él mismo
Mary Calder Rower	...	Ella misma
Jean-Claude Carrière	...	Él mismo
Jean-Pierre Cassel	...	Él mismo
Charles Champlin	...	Él mismo
Roberto Cobo	...	Él mismo
Roberto Córdoba	...	Él mismo
Eduardo Ducay	...	Él mismo
Federico Farfán	...	Él mismo
Jesús Fernández	...	Él mismo
Carlos Fuentes	...	Él mismo
Rafael García Martos	...	Él mismo
Ildefonso María Gómez padre	...	Él mismo
Gonzalo Gonzalbo padre	...	Él mismo
Román Gubern	...	Él mismo
Claudio Isaac	...	Él mismo
María Isbert	...	Ella misma
Pierre Larry	...	Él mismo
Michael Lonsdale	...	Él mismo
Eva López	...	Ella misma
Eduardo MacGregor	...	Himself
Ron Magliozzi	...	Él mismo
Marisol Martín del Campo	...	Ella misma
Padre Manuel Mindán	...	Él mismo
Ángela Molina	...	Ella misma
Bulle Ogier
Padre Julián Pablo	...	Él mismo
Ana María Pecanins	...	Ella misma
María Teresa Pecanins	...	Ella misma
Michel Piccoli	...	Él mismo
Silvia Pinal	...	Ella misma
Elena Poniatowska	...	Ella misma
Pere Portabella	...	Él mismo
Francisco Rabal
Arturo Ripstein	...	Él mismo
Jean Rochefort
José Sancho	...	Voz en off (voice)
Emilio Sanz de Soto	...	Himself
Carlos Saura	...	Él mismo
Carlos Savage	...	Él mismo
Serge Silberman	...	Él mismo
Charles Silver	...	Él mismo
Paco Ignacio Taibo	...	Él mismo
Laurent Terzieff	...	Él mismo
Andrea Valeria	...	Ella misma

Also Known As:

À propos de Buñuel (France)
Speaking of Bunuel (International: English title)

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

USA | France | Spain | Mexico

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color

Certification:

Mexico:A | Spain:T

Filming Locations:

Barcelona, Cataluña, Spain

Company:

Cero en Conducta S.L.

Trivia:

This title is featured on the 2-Disc Criterion Collection DVD for Charme discret de la bourgeoisie, Le (1972), released in 2000.

Movie Connections:

Features Hija de Juan Simón, La (1935)

Soundtrack:

Scherzino Mexicano

'You believe in God, I believe in mystery'

Different people explain in this fine documentary how Luis Buñuel started to invent surrealist cinematic imagery and why he wanted to shock people and why he despises organized religion, faith and of course certain bourgeoisie. The importance of Toledo (to Jose Bello, Dali, Buñuel and Lorca) is explained and what impact Velazquez, Goya and Cervantes had in Buñuel's films. Also explained is why the acting in his films is always sober and never over-acted (i.e. use of eyebrows and nodding etc.). Although it is in chronological order from birth to death, it somehow does not feel complete. But a documentary can't really fathom ALL essential factors in the life and work of such an icon in cinema in 98 minutes, when 8 minutes are spent on how Buñuel used to drink his Martini's.

'I discovered cinema in 1908 as an attraction at the carnival: a simple technical discovery. But it was the invasion of something totally new in our Medieval universe.'

More than twenty friends, actors, cinematographers, family and writers are interviewed and there are many excerpts from most of Buñuel's films. Luis Bunuel even has some screen time as he is interviewed (that must be at least 18 years before the making of this documentary). I was disappointed that neither cinematographer Edmond Richard, who shot Bunuel's last three films and Le Proces (Welles, 1963), wasn't interviewed nor Fernando Rey. Another flaw is that Buñuel is made into a hero, while he made mistakes too: e.g. why was it that he never worked with Dali again after l'Age d'or? Wasn't that because of major differences in the visual ideas of Buñuel and Dali? The riot over l'Age d'or is illustrated though. I was delighted to see that the emphasis in this documentary is on Buñuel as a person and on his surrealist freedom. If you like one or more of the films by Buñuel, you will want to see this (twice).

9/10