L'Age d'Or (1930)
"L'âge d'or" (original title)

Bunuel's first feature has more of a plot than Un Chien Andalou, but it's still a pure Surrealist film, so this is only a vague outline. A man and a woman are passionately in love with one ... See full summary »

Director:

Luis Buñuel

Writers:

Luis Buñuel (scenario), Salvador Dalí (scenario),

Stars:

Gaston Modot, Lya Lys, Caridad de Laberdesque

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Gaston Modot	...	The Man
Lya Lys	...	Young Girl
Caridad de Laberdesque	...	Chambermaid / Little Girl
Max Ernst	...	Leader of men in cottage
Josep Llorens Artigas	...	Governor
Lionel Salem	...	Duke of Blangis
Germaine Noizet	...	Marquise
Duchange	...	Conductor
Bonaventura Ibáñez	...	Marquis (as Ibanez)

Storyline

Bunuel's first feature has more of a plot than Un Chien Andalou, but it's still a pure Surrealist film, so this is only a vague outline. A man and a woman are passionately in love with one another, but their attempts to consummate that passion are constantly thwarted, by their families, the Church and bourgeois society.

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Plot Keywords:

anti clericalism | cow | toilet | beach | imagery | 

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Taglines:

Banned for over 50 years [Australia Theatrical]

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

1 November 1979 (USA)

Also Known As:

L'Age d'Or

Filming Locations:

Cabo de Creus, Girona, Cataluña, Spain

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$7,940 (USA) (30 January 2004)

Gross:

$32,712 (USA) (21 May 2004)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Vicomte de Noailles

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Tobis-Klangfilm)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.20 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film was granted a screening permit after being presented to the Board of Censors as the dream of a madman. Opening at Studio 28 in Paris in October 1930, word spread about the film's bizarre content. On the evening of 3 December 1930, the fascist League of Patriots and other groups began (halfway through the film) to throw purple ink at the screen, then rushed out into the lobby of the theater, slashing paintings by Yves Tanguy, Salvador Dalí, Joan Miró, and Man Ray. The producers of the film, Le Vicomte de Noailles and Marie-Laure de Noailles, soon withdrew the film from circulation. The (legal) US premiere of subtitled prints of this film took place 1-15 November 1979 at the Roxie Cinema, San Francisco.

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Connections

Referenced in Rififi (1955)

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Soundtracks

"The Hebrides Overture (Fingal's Cave), Op. 26"
By Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy

User Reviews

Ahead Of Its Time

After completing Un Chien Andalusia with Salvador Dali (who helped write the screenplay) Bunuel began his new film titled L'age D'or, translated as The Golden Age. Altho not entirely collaborating on the screenplay, Dali still received his credential for L'age D'or; however, this film was primarily a sole project for Bunuel. In this film Bunuel attacks religion with the famous image of a skeletal clergy resting on the shore of Catalonia. In addition, the film contains other sensational and bizarre imagery (i.e. a cow laying on a bed, a woman having a bowel movement, a man with a boulder on his head, a festering wound on a man's eye, and the like). Obviously, L'age D'or was controversial at it's time, and still is for some audiences. However, the films takes at least 3 times to completely understand Bunuel's symbolism (the way I saw it), as well as the ambiguous conclusion which is still a bit hazy for me. The film's pace is rather slow and can be dull at moments; nevertheless, it takes a lot of patience to even enjoy this film, considering the irregular structure of the story-line. However, that doesn't mean the film is a bomb: it's definitely a standard in the history of art-and-film, influencing a dozen surrealist filmmakers (ie, Cocteau, Fellini) as well as underground directors. In Short, this film will start to grow on the viewer after several viewings. Bunuel was ahead of his time as a director, therefore L'age D'or may seem out of place for todays audiences as well as todays critics.