Bourgeois Blues

 Filling a gap and catching up with Luis Bunuel late in his career, as we complete quite the Francophilic run in the past week:

 

THE DISCREET CHARM OF THE BOURGEOISIE (1972) (B-minus) - In which a group of middle-class French folks try and fail repeatedly to enjoy a meal together. Or, in which a sub-group of them have weird dreams and tell the others about them.

Don Rafael Acosta (Fernando Rey) is an ambassador from the fictional nation of Miranda trying to socialize with the others. He occasionally is confronted by a pretty member of a domestic terrorist group, and he lusts after a friend's wife. Absurd events disturb their gatherings, whether its a law-enforcement raid or merely that their hosts have gone out back to shag and failed to alert the help to serve the dinner.

This is as droll as you can imagine. Some of it hits as knowing satire, but much of it plays like Monty Python without the wit. Maybe more "Love, American Style," know that I think of it. Either way, finally catching up with Bunuel is the equivalent of doing one's due diligence, completing the homework necessary to speak with any authority on the subject of French cinema.

THAT OBSCURE OBJECT OF DESIRE (1977) (B-minus)  - In which a middle-aged widower creeps on the 18-year-old help, launching an elaborate cat-and-mouse game from Luis Bunuel that is not so much surrealistic as it is tedious. Not only is this from a much earlier era of gender politics, but it's an offering from a onetime wunderkind in the twilight of his 50-year career. So, yeah, it's dated.

Sophisticated Mathieu (Fernando Rey, again) gets crushy on a chambermaid, Conchita, who, for absolutely no reason is played by two actresses alternating in the role (Carole Bouquet and Angela Molina). The narrative is told in flashback after we see Mathiew board a train, dump a bucket of water on a young woman, and then settle in to tell the tale to his fellow passengers. 

Mathieu is also hounded by terrorist types, and at some point it appears that Conchita might be conspiring with them against Mathieu. Things tend to go in circles over the course of 103 minutes, and there really is no satisfactory resolution. This absurdist nugget is a curiosity at this point.

BONUS TRACK

Our title track, from Leadbelly: