Surrealism, described by some as a work with elements of
surprise, described by others as poetry, embodies in the film industry as Un
Chien Andalou, a short silent film by the Spanish director Luis Buñuel and the
artist Salvador Dali released in 1929.
Despite the fact that the film could be described as ‘uncanny’
or beyond the ordinary, it begins with the phrase “Once upon a time” ,a phrase
that would automatically bring up the idea of it being a fairy tale, and as
such, that the narrative will eventually lead to a “and they lived happy ever
after”.
The film starts with a man sharpening the blade of a razor
and tests it on his own thumb. With a cigarette in his mouth the steps out on a
balcony and stares at the moon. Just as a cloud passes in front of the moon a
face of a woman appears looking staring at the audience. Followed scene: a
close up of the woman’s eye being cut open by the razor blade.
This instant aggression summarises most of the transition of
the film in many ways. From the rest of it it’s easy to recognise that the main
characters are one man and one woman, but even saying that it becomes difficult
and nearly impossible to define these characters and the tracking of their
motivation and their relationship is ambiguous as they’re not giving; therefore
the idea of a conventional plot or narrative is destroyed. Not only it’s
difficult to follow chronologically but it also relies on the audience’s
ability to grasp on details and symbolisms.
The interpretation of the film it’s based around the main
unquestionable concepts within it; obsession, desire, insanity and sexual
tension are some of which the audience recognises a certain level of “familiarity”
in relation to inner fetishes and therefore multiples interpretations can take
place regarding the director’s original intention. This creation of an internal
conflict between the inner self and the rationality mixed with the symbolic
value within society is what can either create a personal interpretation of the
film while on the other hand refuting to create one can be caused for a notion
of self-denial. Taking it from a Freudian point of view, the whole film is
represented from the male point of view or perspective, and there are several aspects
that could be connoted as having phallic origins that would explain the general
dark feeling of the film.
Also it’s worth mentioning that the first few scenes induce
the idea of anticipation of murder and fear, and because it’s not under the
category of “horror” film but under surreal can cause disturbance in a general
audience, specially knowing that modern society understands rationally the primary
process such as a fetish yet it remains as a taboo of something that needs to
keep repressed and retained. Probably now a days a film like this would not
cause much commotion, but part of its complexity relies on the fact that it was
thrown at an audience more than 80 years ago, transforming it into an
avant-garde masterpiece.
