That Obscure Object of Desire (1977) Cet obscur objet du désir (original title)

Director:

Luis Buñuel

Writers:

Luis Buñuel (scenario)
Jean-Claude Carrière (collaboration)
(more)

Release Date:

8 October 1977 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Plot:

Just after boarding a train, much to the surprise of his fellow passengers, a man pours a bucket of water over a young girl on the platform...

Plot Keywords:

Frustration | Mother Daughter Relationship | Seville Spain | Age Difference | Spain

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 11 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Fernando Rey	...	Mathieu
Carole Bouquet	...	Conchita
Ángela Molina	...	Conchita (as Angela Molina)
Julien Bertheau	...	Edouard
André Weber	...	Martin (as Andre Weber)
Milena Vukotic	...	Femme dans le train
María Asquerino	...	Encarnación - madre de Conchita
Ellen Bahl	...	Manolita
Valerie Blanco	...	Isabelle (as Valérie Blanco)
Auguste Carrière	...	La femme qui reprise dans la vitrine (as Auguste Carriere)
Jacques Debary	...	Un voyageur
Antonio Duque	...	Conducteur
André Lacombe	...	Portier
Lita Lluch-Peiro	...	Ballerine
Annie Monange
Jean-Claude Montalban
Muni	...	Concierge
Bernard Musson	...	Deporting Policeman
Piéral	...	Psychologist (as Pieral)
Isabelle Rattier
David Rocha	...	El Morenito
Isabelle Sadoyan	...	Jadiner
Juan Santamaría
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Mario David	...	(uncredited)
Agnès Gattegno	...	(uncredited)
Silke Humel	...	(uncredited)
Roger Ibáñez	...	(uncredited)
Richard Leduc	...	(uncredited)
Guy Montagné	...	(uncredited)
Michel Piccoli	...	Mathieu (voice) (uncredited)
Justo Ruiz	...	Sect's Member (uncredited)

Directed by
Luis Buñuel		(as Luis Bunuel)

Writing credits
Luis Buñuel		(scenario) (as Luis Bunuel)
Jean-Claude Carrière		(collaboration) (as Jean-Claude Carriere)
Pierre Louÿs		(inspired by the book "La femme et le pantin")

Produced by
Serge Silberman	....	producer

Cinematography by
Edmond Richard		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Hélène Plemiannikov		(as Helene Plemiannikov)

Production Design by
Pierre Guffroy

Set Decoration by
Pierre Lefait

Costume Design by
Sylvie de Segonzac

Makeup Department
Jean-Pierre Berroyer	....	hair stylist
Odette Berroyer	....	key makeup artist

Production Management
Ulrich Picard	....	production manager (as Ully Pickard)
Carlos Ramón	....	production manager: Spain (as Carlos Ramon)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Louis Becker	....	trainee assistant director
Juan Luis Buñuel	....	assistant director (as Juan-Luis Bunuel)
Norbert Damman	....	trainee assistant director (as Norbert Dammann)
Pierre Lary	....	assistant director

Art Department
Enrique Alarcón	....	set designer: Spain (as Enrique Alarcon)
Pierre Barbet	....	furniture
Claude Moesching	....	assistant production designer
René Ferracci	....	poster designer (uncredited)

Sound Department
Gina Pignier	....	sound editor
Jacqueline Porel	....	sound re-recordist
Alex Pront	....	sound mixer
Guy Villette	....	sound engineer
Olivier Villette	....	assistant sound engineer

Special Effects by
François Sune	....	special effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Casimiro Dengra	....	chief electrician: Spain
Jean Distinghin	....	still photographer
Jean Harnois	....	camera operator
Alain Herpe	....	assistant camera
Philippe Houdart	....	assistant camera
Julio Leyva	....	assistant camera (as Julio Leiva)
Hubert Segond	....	chief electrician
Pierre Vespier	....	key grip
Alain Tanguy	....	additional electrician (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
María Teresa García Trueba	....	dresser (as Maria Teresa Garcia)
Mimi Gayo	....	assistant costume designer

Editorial Department
Jean Goudier	....	apprentice editor

Other crew
Julio Arriva	....	location manager: Spain
Ginette Billard	....	assistant general manager
Santiago DeBenito	....	accountant: Spain (as Santiago de Benito)
Marie-Jo Duchemin	....	production secretary
Jacqueline Dudilleux	....	production administrator
Suzanne Durrenberger	....	script girl
Michele Nicholson	....	secretary: Spain
Jacqueline Oblin	....	production administrator
Jean Revel	....	location manager
Gille Schneider	....	general manager
Serge Silberman	....	presenter
Alan Best	....	trainee (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Greenwich Film Productions (co-production) (as Greenwich Film Production - Paris)
• Les Films Galaxie (co-production) (as Les Films Galaxie - Paris)
• In-Cine Compañía Industrial Cinematográfica (co-production) (as Incine - Mardid)

Distributors

• G.E.F. (1977) (France) (theatrical) (as G.E.F.-C.C.F.C.)
• Compagnie Commerciale Française Cinématographique (CCFC) (1977) (France) (theatrical) (as G.E.F.-C.C.F.C.)
• Jugendfilm-Verleih (1978) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Embassy Home Entertainment (1987) (USA) (VHS)
• Optimum Home Entertainment (2001) (UK) (DVD)
• Gativideo (2002) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Gativideo (2002) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Criterion Collection, The (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• StudioCanal (2005) (France) (DVD)
• Kinowelt Home Entertainment (2009) (Germany) (DVD)
• First Artists (????) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Rialto Pictures (????) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Leader Music (2010) (Argentina) (DVD) (as Leader Vision)

Other Companies

• Éditions Albin Michel  book publisher
• Francesco Smalto  costumes: Fernando Rey (as Francesco Smalto Paris)
• Chloé  costumes: for Carole Bouquet and Angela Molina (as CHLOE Paris)
• Christofle  props: Flatware
• Steiner  props: Chairs
• Mahey  props: Mobilier des Ateliers
• Delépine (JCD)  props: Sanitaires (as Juif et Delepine)
• Rosières  props: Elements de cuisine (as Cuisines Rosieres)
• Christian Dior  make-up products
• Galaxie Musique  music edition
• Philips  record label: Wagner 'La Walkyrie'
• Studios Éclair, Épinay-Sur-Seine  studio (as Studios Eclair a Epinay)
• Les Films Michel François  titles and opticals
• Paris Studios Cinéma  sound post-production (as Paris-Studios-Cinéma)
• Panavision Sphérique  location
• Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC)  support: for DVD master

Also Known As:

"Cet obscur objet du désir" - France (original title)

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

France | Spain

Language:

French | Spanish

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:18 (original rating) | Chile:18 | Finland:K-16 | Hong Kong:IIB | Sweden:15 | USA:R | UK:15 | UK:X (original rating) | Ireland:15 | West Germany:12 (re-rating) | West Germany:16 (original rating) | Argentina:16 (re-rating) | Singapore:M18 | Portugal:M/12 (Qualidade)

Filming Locations:

Giralda Tower, Sevilla, Andalucía, Spain

Company:

Greenwich Film Productions

Trivia:

Maria Schneider, frequently nude in Last Tango in Paris (1972) (Last Tango in Paris), walked off the film in protest at the amount of nude scenes.

Quotes:

Mathieu:I respect love too much to go seeking it in the back streets.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Growing Pains: The Obscure Objects of Our Desire: Part 1 (#3.22)" (1988)

Soundtrack:

Die Walküre

The discreet charm of the phantom of Tristana.

Pierre Louys 's novel had already transferred thrice to the screen:by Jacques de Baroncelli in 1928,Von Sternberg in 1935 ( "Devil is a woman" starring Marlene Dietrich) and finally Julien Duvivier (1958,starring Brigitte Bardot).

When Bunuel takes a book ,he always makes it his very own :see for instance what he did with "Robinson Crusoe" !So his permanent features are present here even if personally ,I think that "cet obscur..." is the weakest of his latter days works.But even when Bunuel is not at his best,he's better than most of the rest .

Like the bourgeois in "discreet charm of the bourgeoisie" are searching for a good meal which ,in spite of their dough,they can never get,Rey is on fire:he covets a woman ,he wants to have sex with her but something happens every time he is about to assuage his passion.Besides,in order to puzzle his pitiful hero,Bunuel uses two different actresses:Carole Bouquet's character belongs to the perverse young girls with a Madonna face ,recalling Deneuve's Tristana or Severine ("Belle de jour" )whereas Angela Molina is the sensuous bitchy woman (Djin (Simone Signoret)in "la mort en ce jardin" ;Pedro's mother in "los olvidados").

Religion had always been Bunuel's bête noire :here he works ,so to speak,on a large scale(the terrorists kill in the name of the Jesus baby !) and on a smaller one (Conchita's mother ,a military man's(!) widow, goes to church every day but she is not afraid of making a prostitute of her daughter .)

The strange gathering on the train recalls that scene in "phantom of liberty "where the guests at the inn meet in a room in the middle of the night to chat,which Milena Vukotic's presence reinforces (she's featured in the two movies).

And ,last by not least,Bunuel's final opus includes a tribute to Lumière's "l'arroseur arrosé" (1895).Quoting the pioneers of cinema,what a wonderful way to say goodbye!