Cheap That Obscure Object of Desire - Criterion Collection (DVD) (Fernando Rey, Carole Bouquet, Ángela Molina) (Luis Buñuel) Price

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Stylish And Brilliant.
"That Obscure Object Of Desire," the last film by Luis Bunuel, is a masterpiece of the cinema. One of the best works in film ever made. Bunuel shows us desire and love with style, elegance, brilliance and of course, romance. This movie is never boring and keeps the viewer watching from the first frame to the last. His use of settings, costumes and photography is exquisite here. He even nicely adds Spanish flamenco music into the mix, adding to the hypnotic effect of this movie. But what makes "That Obscure Object Of Desire" such a great movie, is how Bunuel understands a man's desire towards a beautiful or special woman. It is a study of lust, and of what really is love. "That Obscure Object Of Desire" brilliantly disects the scenario of a man falling in love with a woman, lusting for her and enraptured by her. Bunuel basically studies the whole concept of love itself. It is touchingly romantic at times and surrealistic at others. No one other than Luis Bunuel could have made this movie. The direction is near perfect. The screenplay is just a work of pure genius. It was Bunuel's last film, and a fitting, breathtaking finale for a genius. There are surprises at every corner, and Bunuel manages to touch our heart, something you don't see very often in his masterworks because they are usually made to shock or provoke. This one is about feelings and desires. A masterpiece.

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Amusing, but not nearly The Discreet Charm
That Obscure Object of Desire (Luis Bunuel, 1977)

That Obscure Object of Desire, the sixth(!) adaptation of Pierre Louys' novel Le Femme et le Pantin to come to the screen (and there was a seventh, released in 1990, as well), was Bunuel's final film. And while it's obviously a Bunuel film, it's probably a good thing that it was his last. It contains all the hallmarks of Bunuel, but without the compelling qualities that made his earlier work some of the best filmmaking ever.

At the opening, Mathieu (Fernando Rey) is boarding a train. He stops to pour a bucket of water over the head of a young woman. His fellow passengers naturally wonder about all this, so he tells them the tale of his courtship of Conchita (played by two actresses, Carole Bouquet and Angela Molina), which is, in essence, a tale of never-ending frustration, as the couple's every attempt to make love is thwarted, either by one of them or by some outside force. Bunuel fans will not be unfamiliar with this ruse (it's the same fate as the dinner party in The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie), or many of the trappings surrounding it. Yet still, it lacks something.

The most interesting part of the DVD is in the extras, which compare Bunuel's versions to the second adaptation of the novel, La Femme et le Pantin (Jacues de Baroncelli, 1928). One only wonders for a moment why they chose the particular scenes for the comparison they did, especially the climactic fight; suffice to say without giving anything away that Bunuel makes a few changes to the characters' attitudes that give the climax a whole different tone.

I only with I could find the complete 1928 version to compare. (I have had the novel on my TBR stack for eight years, time to read it.) It is possible that those who've never seen another of Bunuel's late-period films will find this far more amusing than I did. I, however, am stuck comparing it to The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, one of the finest films not only from the Bunuel collection but by any director, and in that light, That Obscure Object of Desire was a pretty, amusing trifle. ** ½

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One superb movie
First at all , I must confess that my favorite film of Luis Bunuel is Viridiana.
But what this film has in particular is the special enchantment who Bunuel added when we watched the dramatic transformations suffered by a same woman in an unhappy relationship.
The progressive change , you perfectly can associate with the journey from Athenea to Aphrodite and back to Athenea with a touch of Gea .
Athenea besides being the knowledge , the prudence and wisdom's symbol , was virginal.
Instead Aphrodite simbolizes the love without restrictions and duties too. In Aphrodite's mind the idea of a perpetual relationship and marrioage, simply don't exist.
Gea represents the woman who thinks in the marriage as a commitment of life. She loves the family and kids, and that's her bliss.
That's why our troubled man (Fernando Rey) can not understand. Because he loves the best of both , and so his confussion grows and grows till the time comes for him to fade in that unexpected ending.
One powerful of the couple. A film carefully made and a brilliant portrait who reflect the behavior of many couples in any age.
Watch this monumental film . One of the most honest works of that genius: Luis Bunuel.