The Film That Attacks You
For his latest video essay, Evan Puschak tells us about Un Chien Andalou, the pioneering surrealist short film by Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí. The film is particularly notable for a shocking shot in the opening scene, which, if you’ve seen it, you’ve likely never forgotten. Said Buñuel of the film:
This film has no intention of attracting nor pleasing the spectator; indeed, on the contrary, it attacks him, to the degree that he belongs to a society with which surrealism is at war.
You can watch Un Chien Andalou on YouTube:
One wonders what Buñuel and Dalí would have made of YouTube…
Comments 2
As an art history major, I was required to watch this film for 3 different classes. This being pre-internet days, I knew about the eye scene from reading books about surrealism. Being extremely adverse to gore/frightening movies, I knew to close my eyes before this scene. Three times I squoze my eyes shut and listened to a class groan in dismay that that scene!
You might remember the Pixies singing about this film on their song “Debaser.”
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