A mocking, surreal sketch of the worthless life of the bourgeois. Unforeseen circumstances interfere with the characters’ lust for a meal with enviable consistency. Dream and reality intertwine in a kaleidoscope of delirious events.

4k movies reviews
The most brilliant and full of denunciatory pathos works, director Luis Buñuel created at the end of his life and the film “The Modest Charm of the Bourgeoisie” is one of them. The name of this film already suggests something subtle and refined, and no wonder: it tells us about the worthless life of the French “cream of society”.

The idea for the film is said to have arisen out of a mere trifle. The idea for the film is thought to have originated in a trivial incident at the house of Serge Silbermann, Bunuel’s longtime friend and the producer of his films. The first scene that can be seen in the film (the escape of a couple from their own house) took place in real life. From this event, Buñuel and Silberman constructed the further events of the film, which are an incredible intertwining of reality and dreams.

There are six protagonists: three elderly men and their charming companions. A corrupt ambassador from the fictional republic of Miranda, a drug dealer and his wife, an alcoholic daughter, and the Seneschal couple desperately try to dine together throughout the film, but completely unbelievable events, impossible in real life, prevent them from sitting down and enjoying their meal.

The beautiful country houses, the expensive restaurants, the dinner parties, the haute couture clothes… There’s no shortage of these in the film by the film’s chief surrealist. There is no plot as such. The whole narration is a kaleidoscope of real events and dreams intertwined with each other so that you lose track of what is real and what is fiction. The characters do most of the talking by going to each other’s houses for dinner parties and parties. They are limited and stupid, their world outlook is ridiculously primitive, they are incapable of any serious action and are guided in their actions by the most superficial judgments, but even such one-celled creatures have doubts about their future and carefree existence, which causes nightmares.

The film is very simple and straightforward. Bu̱uel does not make surrealism an end in itself, using it only as an artistic device, so the main idea can be seen with the naked eye Рto show the moral and spiritual degradation of bohemia and to slap the French bourgeois carelessly in the face.

Ordinary and unreal, sophisticated and extravagant, satirical and tragic dreams of the characters leave vivid impressions. “The Modest Charm of the Bourgeoisie” is a wonderful example of auteur cinema, made with stunning irony and lightness, and is perhaps the pinnacle of Luis Buñuel’s work.

Info Blu-ray
Video
Codec: HEVC / H.265 (53.0 Mb/s)
Resolution: Native 4K (2160p)
HDR: HDR10
Aspect ratio: 1.66:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.66:1

Audio
French: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
French: Dolby Digital 2.0
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
English: Dolby Digital 2.0
German: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0

Subtitles
English, French, German.