"Un chien andalou" et "L'age d'or"

Yesterday I watched the films that Luis Buñuel made in collaboration with Salvador Dalí. "Un chien andalou" was filmed in 1929, and "L'age d'or" was produced in 1930. It is unfortunate that Buñuel and Dalí were no longer on speaking terms before the end of the making of their second film together. "Un chien andalou" has what is considered one of the most shocking images in film. A woman is sitting on a balcony while a man is inside with a razor. After testing the razor on his thumb he seems to slice the woman's eye with it. During this action a cloud is seen passing between us and the moon. Buñuel later said that he had used the eye of a calf for this scene. This scene, he said , was inspired by dream in which he saw a thin cloud passing in front of the moon. He said that it looked like a razor slicing an eye. Later scenes were inspired by a dream that Dalí had had about ants crawling out of somebody's hand. They had one rule when making the film. They did not want the images in the film to be ones that could be interpreted. Of course this has not stopped people from trying to interpret them. According to intertitles the film jumps around in time, but if we did not have these intertitles we would think that the action followed a simple timeline. There are images that appear in some of Dalí's paintings, Vermeer's painting "The Lacemaker" and ants among other images. One image that some have tried to interpret in various ways is that of a man trying to reach a woman, but he is pulling two ropes to which are attached priests and pianos with rotting donkeys on top of them.  At one point the woman hears a sound outside. She looks out the window as a man in a suit with what some describe as looking like a nun's clothing collapses on the street. He also has a striped box hanging around his neck.She tries to revive him, and she takes the feminine attire and places it in the box. Later she places these items on a bed. He then appears at the door. Both of them look at his hand which has ants crawling out of a hole in his palm. After a time there is a scene of an androgynous woman on the street using a cane to poke a severed hand. A crowd of people surround her. A policeman places the hand in a box similar to the one that had hung around the man's neck. The woman on the street holds the box close to her body and appears to be oblivious to the traffic passing her on both sides. She is struck and killed by a car. While this has been going on the man has been watching with excitement as she is in peril. I do not want to go into too much more detail about the images that are seen. There is a humorous image where a man rings a door bell, and we see a pair of hands coming out of holes in a wall shaking a martini shaker to represent the sound of the doorbell. At one point the woman in the scene mentioned above threatens him with a tennis racket. In another scene a man has been forced to stand with his head against the wall with books in his hands. The books turn into guns and he shoots the other man. There are many more interesting images in this film, but I want to move onto "L'age d'or." This film was banned in France within weeks of its release. Vicomte Charles  de Noailles, who financed the movie was threatened with excommunication by the Catholic church. It was shown at a private screening at the Museum of Modern Art in 1933 in New York. It was not until 1979 that the film had its official U.S. debut at the Roxie Cinema in San Francisco. The film opens with scenes from a documentary on scorpions. We then see men in clerical garb arriving on a shore and sitting. These men are referred to throughout the film as "The Majorcans." The scene cuts to a group of ragtag partisans. Upon learning that the Majorcans have they prepare to go to battle. One of the men decides not to go with them. When asked why he is not going he says, "Je suis foutu." The leader says that the others are too. The man responds that they have accordions, hippopotamuses, wrenches, mountain goats and paintbrushes. The men head out out and die on the way.  Then a group of people have gathered together for the dedication of the cornerstone of a building. Before the dedication begins a woman's screams are heard. A man and woman are rolling clothed in the mud. They are separated. The man is taken away by two men. While being taken away the man is enraged by the barking of a small dog. He breaks away from the other two long enough to kick the dog. Shortly after he struggles to step on an insect. The dedication takes place. In the next scene plans are being made for a party. The woman from the previous scene is talking to her mother. They are making plans for an outdoor concert. Mention is made of a priest who plays the violin very well. The statement is made that six musicians close to a microphone would be louder than sixty musicians ten kilometres away. I am not going to great detail about the plot of the rest of the movie, just some images that stuck in my mind. When the guests are arriving for the dinner party we see people getting out of their cars. Before one couple get out of their car they put a monstrance that had been on the floorboard of the car on the ground and after getting out of the car they put it back on the floor. I am sure that this did not go over well with the Church. (I am jumping around here, scenes may not be in the order in which they took place in the film.) The woman is getting ready for the party as the man is being led through the city by the two men. When she goes into her room there is a cow on the bed. She scolds the cow, and the cow gets off of the bed without disturbing the bed clothes and leaves the room. The cowbell is heard for a short time. The scene switches between the bedroom and the men walking in the city. She sits at a mirror. Instead of seeing her own reflection in the mirror there are clouds. Her hair and flowers in a vase on her vanity are moved by a wind coming from the mirror. As they walk through the city they pass a man who is kicking a violin. Eventually he stomps on the violin. After walking for some time the man tells those he is with that they do not know with whom they are dealing. He pulls a certificate out of his pocket. We see part of a ceremony in which he is being honored as a goodwill ambassador by an organization. He finished telling of his reception of this honor speaking in a tone that is used in recitations in church services. At one point during the party there one of the servants who is in the kitchen comes running out, and we see flames coming out of the kitchen. The guests do not seem to notice this, and somehow the fire is extinguished. While those assembled are still inside a man with a rifle outside is greeted with delight by a young boy. They seem happy to see each other. The boy gets into the man's lap, and he tries to kiss the boy. The boy jumps out of his lap and knocks something out of he hands. The boy runs away laughing and waving. As he runs away the man shoots him, once while while he is running and again after he is on the ground. The people hear the gunfire and look outside to see what is happening. Men arrive and see that the boy has been killed. The man from the previous arrives at the party. He and the woman look at each other, and it is clear that they want to get back together, but they do not yet act on their desires. At one point the mother is handing the man a glass of liqueur. She spills some on his, and this enrages him. He slaps the mother. This excites the young woman. Eventually they go out onto the grounds where there are some chaises in front of a statue of what may be a Roman goddess. They alternate between rolling on the ground kissing and kissing while sitting in chairs. At one point they are sucking on each other's fingers. In one shot the fingers of one of he man's hand have disappeared. At another point he notices the feet of the statue, and he seems to get excited by this sight. He is called away for a phone call from the ministry. He is told by the person who had bestowed the honor on him that he has failed in his duties and hundreds of children, women and old people have died because of his failure. He leaves the phone. The minister shoots himself and falls to the ceiling. He rejoins the woman outside. They talk and kiss. She speaks of the joy that she felt that they had killed their children. Soon the man who has been conducting the musicians giving an outdoor concert leaves the podium and walks to where the couple are kissing. The woman leaves the man and starts kissing  the older man. The man leaves in disgust. He goes into a bed room and tears apart a pillow. He eventually starts throwing things from a window, first a burning tree then a bishop, a plow that was previously seen in the bedroom, a figure of a giraffe and finally feathers from the pillow. The final scene is from 120 Days of Sodom by the Marquis de Sade. Four men are seen leaving a castle. What took place in the castle is described in intertitles. One of the men is supposed to resemble Jesus Christ. A wounded woman comes out of the castle. She is led back inside by the Christ figure. Screams are heard, and she has presumable been killed. When the man comes back out he no longer has the facial hair he had when he went inside. The last shot is of a cross with what is presumed to be the  hair of four of the women killed in the castle hanging on it. I know this description is somewhat jumbled, but the narrative of the film is not much clearer.
I am in the process of watching some short films, and I will write about those soon. This is your warning.