Comment

Community comment are the opinions of contributing users. These comment do not represent the opinions of Whistler Public Library.
Jan 22, 2015Nursebob rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Once again Luis Buñuel takes aim at the pettiness of the upper class and scores a bullseye. By combining fierce wit with a parade of increasingly absurd plot twists he delivers a cruel satire that has you laughing even as you cringe. The mundane qualities of his subjects are brought out in some very clever ways with individual lines (and one entire scene) being repeated and an acid-tongued script laced with disparaging remarks about class and patriotism. Furthermore, aside from their all-consuming lethargy, there exists a spiritual paralysis with some guests taking cold comfort in meaningless ritual; as one woman offers up a showy prayer to the Virgin, another practices voodoo with the chicken feet and feathers stashed in her purse and a couple of well-dressed dandies eagerly exchange secret Masonic handshakes. Ever the atheist, Buñuel adorns the salon walls with faded religious icons, including one prominent painting of St. Michael battling the dragon which graces the makeshift latrine’s outer door. But his final jab at both church and aristocracy is saved for a deliciously irreverent ending involving raucous bells and a few persistent sheep. Wonderfully layered and impossible to pigeonhole.