Winner of the 1973 Oscar for best foreign language film, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie is a surreal tale of six people attempting to eat together but who are constantly interrupted.
From a wrong date to army manoeuvres, from drug-related arrests to an attempted assassination (Fernando Rey is the Republic of Miranda’s ambassador to France); no matter how hard they try, the six fail to sit and complete a meal.
And to be honest, in it’s stagey, studio-bound presentation, the film itself is very trying. Director Luis Buñuel is a master of the surreal – yet a dated The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie is more silly than surreal. A regiment marches into the house of Stéphane Audran just as the six sit down to eat: a group of policeman storm the same house: a teashop runs out of tea. Inventive in its narrative it may have been 50 years ago but today it comes across as little more than cheap whimsy.
Nominated for 2 Oscars in 1973 including original script, won 1 for best foreign language film.
Rating: 35%
Director: Luis Buñuel (L’âge d’or, That Obscure Object of Desire)
Writer: Luis Buñuel (L’âge d’or, That Obscure Object of Desire), Jean-Claude Carrière (The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Cyrano de Bergerac)
Main cast: Fernando Rey (The French Connection, Tristana), Stéphane Audran (Babette’s Feast, Les biches), Delphine Seyrig (Stolen Kisses, The Day of the Jackal)
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