AN ANDALUSIAN DOG [Buñuel 1929] - movie review by Mandibil

The twenties was, in my opinion, the most interesting decade in European art. It was a time when all cultural barriers where challenged and ways of expression were split up or merged in new ways. This anarchy would soon be inhibited by the growing nationalism and other movements in the next decade, that all but eliminated this window of opportunity for artistic expression. The film medium was still considered a bit of a novelty by the general public and certainly not seen as an artform. Buñuel and his writing partner Salvador Dali, were bent on changing that idea. They wanted to bring their surrealism to film and use chok effects to either scare the audience away or lure them into their strange world. This is a short movie, around 20 minutes, but still it is packed with more things to ponder about, than many movies 5 times that length.

When it comes to plot and story, your guess is as good as mine. The scenes are supposed to not have any connection, as far as the official story goes. But that is really impossible both to pretend, but also in the reality, since our mind will always try to make sense and story in a situation where you expect there to be a story. I personally think that the artists behind this movie actually had a very clear idea of a theme underneath it all. I suppose this theme is: social norms versus personal desires. This I base on the scene where the guy tries to drag two pianos, that are furthermore burdened with dead donkeys with pierced eyes, priests and other things - after he has tried to force himself on the girl, without conforming to societal norms. But when he tries to burden himself with the collective demands of society by dragging al this for her, she turns away since he is not able to live up to the standards SHE wants to express to society to get accepted.

There are also clearly a sense of chapters in the guys story. He tries to kill his false self og is it the other way round and he goes through phases that have violent or huge emotional transitions, which everyone probably can connect to. It seems that once in a while, you are forced to make decisions in your life, because you did not make them when you should have. Another interesting theme is the hand. I believe it is an analogy for the shame of masturbation. The cut off hand is a recurring theme in horror movies but also in highly symbolic movies like Metropolis and Star Wars. The ants that crawl out of the hand i am sure symbolizes parasites that you are getting rid of in your life. They crawl under your skin and sucks the life blood out of you. Bunuel was deeply inspired by his own dreams, and this is a well known dream analysis.

The chok value comes in the first two minutes. I admit, i have to close my eyes at that point. I am not sure what the scientific term for this is but i curl up inside physically when watching it. It is probably the most famous aspect of the movie, so i will let you see it for your self. This is really avantgarde, if there ever were anything called avantgarde. It even has pornographic sequences that borders on rape. This was absolutely unheard of in those days, and they only got away with it, i think, because it is shrouded in the air of artistic freedom. That is why the 20s are so interesting. This i believe is really the only major surrealistic movie from before the second world war. We have to get way up in the 60s or so, before things get rolling again. A true surrealistic, avantgarde masterpiece.

Rating: 10/10