After an evening at the opera in Mexico City, a group of high society friends meet at the house of their hosts, Nobilé and his wife, to dine and spend the evening indulging in "sophisticated" conversation and whatever else such folks do at their parties. They stay later and later and eventually it's the next day, but no one has left. By that evening, they're all still in the salon, no one has left and no one will leave: they're trapped! All the have to do is walk out the door, but no one wants to be the first to leave.
As time goes on, one gravely ill guest dies, they run out of food, and eventually their genteel façade deteriorates and they become, as the Spanish title suggests, "shipwrecked", in their house on Providence St., losing all track of time. The subtitles typically leave out a lot of the Spanish dialog. Listen for the Voice of Reason, el Doctor, who's always saying "calmanse todos" ("everyone be calm") whenever there's a confrontation. Also listen for the electric shaver at odd times, much to the irritation of one of the guests.
I came across this crazy film in the summer of '86 after having purchased my first VCR. I soon found myself watching it twice daily and read all the books I could find on both the film and its director, Luis Buñuel. I found a lot of good information along with some glaring errors regarding the film, to which I attribute the possibility that the authors probably did not have access to a videotape copy of the movie and were thus unable to view it many times over.
That being said, I've been able to gather that the movie is primarily Buñuel's impression of "high society" parties that seem to go on forever (as he stated himself in several interviews). Much is made of the various repetitions in the film, and he stated that in some cases he'd actually witnessed the same people being introduced to each other several times throughout an evening, as is seen in the film itself.
Beyond that, I get the clear impression that a lot of this film is essential a joke in the sense that Buñuel throws in a lot of stuff just to confound the viewer and make himself laugh. When the women talk of seeing eagles when relieving themselves in large vases in a closet, this is in reality taken from a time in Buñuel's youth when he'd visit relatives in the mountains. Their outhouses extended over cliffs and it was indeed possible to see eagles, etc., flying underneath (poor birds!).
Then there are Buñuel's favorite targets like the upper class and classical music, including condutors and cellos. The dialog is rich in non-sequitors and ironic responses that are all the more hilarious when translated from Spanish. One great example is when Nobilé responds to his wife after she's noticed a guest has removed his coat (gasp!), "let us remove our coats as well, to attenuate the incorrectness".
I've watched a fair amount of Buñuel's films, and this is by far my favorite. There are others that are better in their technical acheivement, e.g. "The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeousie", but this, and its contemporary, "Simon of the Desert", are as good as he gets in my book.
I've been searching for a copy of the screenplay in Spanish.
"We don't want answers, we want to get out of here!"
As time goes on, one gravely ill guest dies, they run out of food, and eventually their genteel façade deteriorates and they become, as the Spanish title suggests, "shipwrecked", in their house on Providence St., losing all track of time. The subtitles typically leave out a lot of the Spanish dialog. Listen for the Voice of Reason, el Doctor, who's always saying "calmanse todos" ("everyone be calm") whenever there's a confrontation. Also listen for the electric shaver at odd times, much to the irritation of one of the guests.
I came across this crazy film in the summer of '86 after having purchased my first VCR. I soon found myself watching it twice daily and read all the books I could find on both the film and its director, Luis Buñuel. I found a lot of good information along with some glaring errors regarding the film, to which I attribute the possibility that the authors probably did not have access to a videotape copy of the movie and were thus unable to view it many times over.
That being said, I've been able to gather that the movie is primarily Buñuel's impression of "high society" parties that seem to go on forever (as he stated himself in several interviews). Much is made of the various repetitions in the film, and he stated that in some cases he'd actually witnessed the same people being introduced to each other several times throughout an evening, as is seen in the film itself.
Beyond that, I get the clear impression that a lot of this film is essential a joke in the sense that Buñuel throws in a lot of stuff just to confound the viewer and make himself laugh. When the women talk of seeing eagles when relieving themselves in large vases in a closet, this is in reality taken from a time in Buñuel's youth when he'd visit relatives in the mountains. Their outhouses extended over cliffs and it was indeed possible to see eagles, etc., flying underneath (poor birds!).
Then there are Buñuel's favorite targets like the upper class and classical music, including condutors and cellos. The dialog is rich in non-sequitors and ironic responses that are all the more hilarious when translated from Spanish. One great example is when Nobilé responds to his wife after she's noticed a guest has removed his coat (gasp!), "let us remove our coats as well, to attenuate the incorrectness".
I've watched a fair amount of Buñuel's films, and this is by far my favorite. There are others that are better in their technical acheivement, e.g. "The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeousie", but this, and its contemporary, "Simon of the Desert", are as good as he gets in my book.
I've been searching for a copy of the screenplay in Spanish.
"We don't want answers, we want to get out of here!"