El (1953)

 Luis Bunuel's "El"


Of the four films I've seen so far of Luis Bunuel, his 1953 Mexican film "El" is perhaps the weakest of the bunch. This is ironic given that Bunuel felt the film was the one that he put most of 'himself' into. However, just because it doesn't come close to the likes of "Un Chien Andalou," "L'Age d'Or," and "Los Olvidados," certainly does not mean "El" isn't a marvelous film. 

The film tells the story of a wealthy man named Francisco who becomes obsessed with a woman named Gloria. He steals her away from her fiance and marries. With little time, she begins to discover just how paranoid and extreme his behavior is. She spends the whole film trying desperately to get away from him and convince others of his erraticness. However, this is of no avail. Eventually, he loses his mind in a church and spends the rest of his days in a monastery. 

"El" was a great watch and its elements of surrealism showed up through the paranoia of its leading man. His behavior only gets more and more erratic and the story gets more and more confounding the more unsuccessful Gloria is at getting others to see him for how he is. The film was a major dissapointment commerically when it was realsed in Mexico in 1953, however, it has since gained recognition for being another great film in the catalog of Luis Bunuel.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Rio Bravo (1959)

Image
  Howard Hawks' "Rio Bravo" To conclude the filmography of Howard Hawks, I watched his 1959 western film " Rio Bravo ." I've got to say that I was expecting a lot more out of this picture based on all the praise for the film. That is not to say that I didn't like it, it was a fine time at the cinema (I was not at the cinema, I was at home). I can't say that I should have expected more, as I'm not entirely that big of a fan of Howard Hawks. Even his best film (to me), " The Big Sleep " is arguably one of the weaker film noirs that I've seen. " Rio Bravo " is a film that apparently is a response to 1952's " High Noon ," which was an allegory about Hollywood's blacklisting and McCarthyism. Howard Hawks and John Wayne felt the film was anti-American and instead made " Rio Bravo " to broadcast an alternative perspective in which the hero of the story doesn't shy away from justice. I personally ha...
Read more

King Kong (1933)

Image
  Merian C. Cooper & Ernest B. Schoedsack's "King Kong" There are many post-Depression American 'box office' films that I have seen in my film studies journey. Most of these post-Depression box office films don't typically sit right with me. The films I have in mind are the gangster and monster films that swept the nation in the early 1930s. These films typically were meant to placate an anxious American audience. However, the depth to their thematic intricacies leave something to be desired. Even without this depth, the 'entertainment' aspect of these films were not very entertaining to me. However, there is one film that utterly surprised me, 1933's adventure epic " King Kong ."   The story is well-known. A group of filmmakers travel to a remote island to take advantage of strange and interesting natural wildlife unknown to the outside world. There they meet an indigenous people, all terrified of a large, monstrous primate living on...
Read more

The Big Sleep (1946)

Image
  Howard Hawks' "The Big Sleep" After watching Howard Hawks' 1946 film noir " The Big Sleep ," I have to say that it is not one of my favorite film noirs. That being said, it was definitely the best Howard Hawks film I've seen thus far. It did not have the typical dark ending that permeates the whole film with bleak darkness, which probably made it a lesser noir for me. In fact, it felt more like a 'studio noir,' if that makes sense. I'm not going to go into the entire plot of the film, especially because the entire plot is incredibly convoluted. In fact, this was a major strike against the film at the time of its release. Many reported that they could not keep up with what was happening. I've got to say that, for myself, this was the case as well. I found myself having to rewind to figure out what exactly I missed or who was who. However, upon reflection, the convoluted plot may only add to the feverish intoxication of the film.  Because...
Read more