Le charme discret de la bourgeoisie (1972)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Luis Buñuel

Writers:

Luis Buñuel (written by)
Jean-Claude Carrière (written by)

Release Date:

22 October 1972 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Fantasy

Plot:

A surreal, virtually plotless series of dreams centered around six middle-class people and their consistently interrupted attempts to have a meal together.

Plot Keywords:

Middle Class | Date | Food | Heroin | Sex In Garden

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 5 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Fernando Rey	...	Don Rafael Acosta
Paul Frankeur	...	M. Thevenot
Delphine Seyrig	...	Simone Thévenot
Bulle Ogier	...	Florence
Stéphane Audran	...	Alice Sénéchal (as Stephane Audran)
Jean-Pierre Cassel	...	Henri Sénéchal
Julien Bertheau	...	Mgr Dufour
Milena Vukotic	...	Ines
Maria Gabriella Maione	...	Guerilla
Claude Piéplu	...	Colonel
Muni	...	Peasant
Pierre Maguelon	...	Sgt de police
François Maistre	...	Delecluze
Michel Piccoli	...	Ministre
Ellen Bahl
Christian Baltauss
Olivier Bauchet
Robert Benoît
Anne-Marie Deschott
Jean-Michel Dhermay		(as Michel Dhermay)
Georges Douking	...	Jardinier
Jean Degrave
Sébastien Floche
François Guilloteau
Claude Jaeger
Jean-Claude Jarry
Pierre Lary
Robert Le Béal	...	Couturier (as Robert Le Beal)
Alix Mahieux
Bernard Musson	...	Serveur
Maxence Mailfort	...	Sergent qui raconte ses rêves
Robert Party
Jean Revel
Jacques Rispal	...	Un gendarme
Amparo Soler Leal		(as Amparo Soler-Leal)
Diane Vernon

Directed by
Luis Buñuel		(as Luis Bunuel)

Writing credits
Luis Buñuel		(written by) (as Luis Bunuel) &
Jean-Claude Carrière		(written by)

Produced by
Serge Silberman	....	producer

Cinematography by
Edmond Richard

Film Editing by
Hélène Plemiannikov

Art Direction by
Pierre Guffroy

Costume Design by
Jacqueline Guyot

Makeup Department
Odette Berroyer	....	makeup artist
Fernande Hugi	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Ulrich Picard	....	production manager (as Ully Pickard)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Arnie Gelbart	....	assistant director
Pierre Lary	....	assistant director

Art Department
Albert Rajau	....	assistant decorator
François Sune	....	property master
Ferracci	....	poster designer (uncredited)

Sound Department
Daniel Brisseau	....	sound assistant
Luis Buñuel	....	sound effects (as Luis Bunuel)
Jacques Carrère	....	sound mixer (as Jacques Carrere)
Jacqueline Porel	....	recording technician (as J. Porel)
Claude Villand	....	assistant sound mixer
Guy Villette	....	sound engineer

Camera and Electrical Department
André Clément	....	assistant camera
Alain Herpe	....	assistant camera
Yves Manciet	....	still photographer
Bernard Noisette	....	camera operator
Marcel Policard	....	chief electrician

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Jean Patou	....	gowns: Delphine Seyrig
Olympe Watelle	....	assistant costumer

Editorial Department
Gina Pignier	....	assistant editor

Other crew
Jacqueline Dudilleux	....	administrator
Suzanne Durrenberger	....	script girl
Jean Lara	....	general manager
Pierre Lefait	....	locations: exteriors
René Menuset	....	chief machinist
Jacqueline Oblin	....	accountant
Jean Revel	....	assistant locations: exterior
Marie-Jane Ruel	....	production secretary
Jean-Jacques Schpoliansky	....	assistant general manager
Henri Stern	....	furrier

Production Companies

• Dean Film
• Greenwich Film Productions
• Jet Films

Distributors

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (1972) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Xenon Entertainment Group (1992) (USA) (VHS)
• Cinematheque (1996) (USA) (VHS)
• Criterion Collection, The (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Home Vision Entertainment (HVE) (2000) (USA) (VHS)
• Home Vision Entertainment (HVE) (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Fox-MGM (1973) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Rialto Pictures (????) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Applause Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Corinth Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Gativideo (2008) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Homescreen (19??) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Kinowelt Home Entertainment (1995) (Germany) (VHS)
• Lume Filmes (2008) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Media Home Entertainment (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Sagres Filmes (????) (Brazil) (VHS)

Also Known As:

The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (Canada: English title) (USA)
El discreto encanto de la burguesía (Spain)
Il fascino discreto della borghesia (Italy)

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

France | Italy | Spain

Language:

French | Spanish

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Singapore:NC-16 (DVD rating) | Singapore:PG | West Germany:16 (f) | Australia:M (DVD rating) | Argentina:16 | Chile:18 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:PG | Australia:PG | UK:AA (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Paris, France

Company:

Dean Film

Trivia:

The date Don Rafael tells Florence is his birthday, 22 February, is also director Luis Buñuel's birthday.

Quotes:

Colonel: Marijuana isn't a drug. Look at what goes on in Vietnam. From the general down to the private, they all smoke.
Mme. Thevenot: As a result, once a week they bomb their own troops.
Colonel: If they bomb their own troops, they must have their reasons.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Le cinéma passe à table (2005) (TV)

Dinner Is Served

Director Luis Bunuel is often described as a surrealist, but the word misapplied in reference to his later works, where the the term absurdism is much more appropriate. Such is the case with the Academy Award-winning THE DISCREET CHARM OF THE BOURGEOISIE, which begins with four friends who arrive at their hosts' home only to discover they have arrived on the wrong night--a plausible situation. But before the film has run its course, Bunuel unravels his tale of a meal that never quite happens in the most unexpected ways imaginable.

The film works on several levels, mocking social conventions, the church, and eventually spilling its action into a series of overlapping nightmares in which various attempts to dine are frustrated by everything from the corpse of a restaurant manager in a nearby room to military maneuvers. On one memorable occasion, the friends are invited to dine and are seated around an elegant table--when a curtain suddenly rises behind them and reveals them to be seated on a stage before a hostile audience! The cast (which features Fernando Rey, Delphine Seyrig, Paul Frankeur, Bulle Ogier, Stephane Audran and Jean-Pierre Cassel as the constantly frustrated diners) plays with considerable aplomb, performing the most irrational scenes with a magnificent realism. When combined with Bunuel's absurdist story, the result is a disquieting yet often very funny discourse on frustrated appetites both real and imagined, and with many layers of incidental meaning along the way.

A word of caution to the uninitiated: Bunuel is not for those who seek a tidy plot line with clear-cut meanings. But if you come to it with an open mind, you'll find plenty of food for thought!

Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer