Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
by Luis Bu?uel
List Price:
Our Price: $18.88
You Save: $6.11 (24%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $5.84 (click here)
Category: VHS Video
See more movie releases
Buy this VHS video movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
VHS Tape Cover Information
Actor: Bulle Ogier, Delphine Seyrig, Fernando Rey, Paul Frankeur, St?phane AudranDirector: Luis Bu?uel
Edition: VHS Tape
Audio: French (Original Language); Spanish (Original Language)
Format: Color, NTSC
Running Time: 100 minutes
Release Date: 1992-07-24
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Publisher: Cinematheque Collection
Studio: Cinematheque Collection
VHS Movie Reviews of Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
Movie Review: The Stuff of Dreams
Summary: 5 Stars
"The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie" unfolds with the absurd logic of a recurrent dream, and since the DVD has been beautifully restored, one is able to dream the dream in vivid color: Elegantly dressed guests arrive for a dinner party only to have the hostess inform them that they have arrived on the wrong night; thus, they keep making appointments for dinners that are continually interrupted for one reason or another--all of the reasons being as patently ridiculous as are the characters: a bishop, who arrives at the house and asks to be hired as a gardener, and then relates the story of his macabre childhood; a soldier, who arrives at a restaurant (that has run out of tea and coffee), asks to join the ladies, whom he has never met before, and relates the story of his macabre childhood; a General, who arrives with his platoon a day early at the same house with the same hostess in time for dinner, and then, after the General invites a Private to relate the story of his macabre dream to the hosts and the invited guests (who listen attentively), both General and platoon depart for maneuvers (but not before inviting all the guests to his house for dinner, where even more macabre events unfold.). Thus, the dreams contain dreams within dreams within dreams within dreams within dreams et cetera ad absurdum.
This film is for anyone who has ever had recurrent nightmares of waiting for a bus on the wrong corner; of being about to take a test only to discover that one has studied the wrong subject; of being about give a lecture only to discover that one has forgotten the notes; or of performing on stage with a mouth stuffed with peanut-butter when one's cue is coming up. All the absurd commonplaces that make perfect sense when one is dreaming. And much of the "discreet charm" of the bourgeois characters in this film derives from the fact that one is dreaming their nightmares and not one's own.
Summary of Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
What can be more enjoyable then a meal among friends and family? In Luis Bu?uel's surrealistic comedy The Discreet Charm Of The Bourgeoisie it is this common ritual a sextet of upper-class friends repeatedly attempt, only to be obstructed by one obscure event after another. Masterfully balancing the dichotomy of class vs. debauchery Bu?uel delivers a ripping critique of the upper class. It is clear from the beginning that the lives Bu?uel's Bourgeoisie are living are not what they seem. Eventually, their true colors begin to shine; not in actual actions but in haunting dreams. What is real and what lies in the subconscious becoming exceedingly blurry and in order to deliver his message, surrealism must take over. It is hard to pigeonhole Bu?uel's classic that won him the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film 1972: An absurd odyssey? A discreet satire? Not necessarily, but definitely charming. --Rob BraccoArt House & International VHS Video
VHS Video Movies
- Action & Adventure
- African American Cinema
- Animation VHS Video
- Anime & Manga
- Art House & International
- Classics VHS Video
- Comedy VHS Video
- Cult Movies
- Documentary
- Drama VHS Video
- Educational
- Fitness
- Gay & Lesbian
- Horror VHS Video
- Kids & Family
- Military & War VHS Video
- Music Video & Concerts
- Musicals & Performing Arts
- Mystery & Suspense
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Special Interests
- Sports VHS Video
- Television VHS Video
- Westerns VHS Video
Movies most talked about in Great comedy movies from the most bizarre to the most normal
Ruthless PeopleWalt Disney Video; Release date: 1989-07-31; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $3.84
Price in other shops:
Spies Like UsWarner Home Video; Release date: 1992-04-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $4.71
Price in other shops:
Tatie DanielleLive / Artisan; Release date: 1993-02-09; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $32.99
War of the Roses20th Century Fox; Release date: 1996-01-09; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $2.00
Price in other shops:
Cannibal Women in the Avocado JungleParamount Home Video; Release date: 1989-03-15; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $12.94
Price in other shops:
Down & Dirty (Brutti, Sporchi E Cattivi)Media Home Video; Release date: 1990-05-23; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
Raising Arizona20th Century Fox; Release date: 1996-01-10; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $1.90
Price in other shops:
It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (Ws)MGM (Video & DVD); Release date: 1995-09-26; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $7.55
Price in other shops:
Mean StreetsWarner Home Video; Release date: 1997-06-17; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $0.99
Price in other shops:
Dr StrangeloveSony Pictures; Release date: 1994-06-22; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $8.98
Price in other shops:
Similar VHS Movies
The Bicycle ThiefRelease date: 1998-11-24; DVD
Best price: $14.26
Price in other shops:
La Dolce Vita (2-Disc Collector's Edition)Release date: 2004-09-21; DVD
Best price: $19.27
Price in other shops:
L'Avventura - Criterion CollectionRelease date: 2001-06-05; DVD
Best price: $27.74
Price in other shops:
8 1/ 2 - Criterion CollectionRelease date: 2001-12-04; DVD
Best price: $18.75
Price in other shops:
The Milky Way (Criterion Collection)Image Entertainment; Release date: 2007-08-21; DVD
Best price: $16.92
Price in other shops:
Luis Bunuel's L'Age d'OrRelease date: 2004-11-23; DVD
Best price: $13.73
Price in other shops:
Diary of a Chambermaid - Criterion CollectionRelease date: 2001-06-05; DVD
Best price: $20.65
Price in other shops:
BreathlessRelease date: 2001-11-20; DVD
Best price: $12.63
Price in other shops:
Un Chien AndalouRelease date: 2004-12-26; DVD
Best price: $10.45
Price in other shops:
Viridiana - Criterion CollectionImage Entertainment; Release date: 2006-05-23; DVD
Best price: $17.16
Price in other shops: