Before making her vows, a would be nun (Silvia Pinal) visits her rich, old uncle (Fernando Rey) who takes his own life after she refuses his advances. Leaving the convent entirely after inheriting her estate, she transforms it into a commune for vagrants for eventually run amok. Luis Bunuel's return home to his native land is confounding, challenging, cynical, and shocking like most of the director's work, while made with vivid imagery and memorable performances from Pinal and Rey.

*** out of ****

Aboard a train, a wealthy widower (Fernado Rey) dumps a bucket of water atop a beautiful young woman's (Carol Bouquet, Angela Molina) head and accounts for his actions to fellow passengers of his many continual frustrations with his doused victim and former lover. Like Bunuel's Belle de Jour is grounded in a plot, graspable, though still perplexing and not ambiguous and largely  indecipherable like other of his heralded films (The Exterminating Angel, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie).  Rey is excellent and the idea of casting two actresses in one role is a brilliant touch and keeps the viewer guessing.

*** 1/2 out of ****

Luis Bunuel's The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie is a baffling and dreamlike film (with a plot that defies explanation) in which, like the equally inscrutable The Exterminating Angel, the act of dining figures prominently and proves problematic for a group of upper crusters. Despite its nature, the film never ceases to be involving (maybe partially due to its incomprehensibility) and features exquisite photography by Edmond Richmond.
*** out of ****

A beautiful upper class housewife (Catherine Deneuve) takes no satisfaction in her perfectly eligible doctor husband and often drifts into bizarre masochistic daydreams. One day she stumbles into a bordello and, after some cajoling from the madame, decides to spend her afternoons as a prostitute while her husband is away at work. Luis Bunuel's Belle de Jour is a bold tour de force, shot in sumptuous technicolor, that features a continuous succession of masterful vignettes, both real and imagined, that all add up to one unique, extraordinary whole. Deneuve, who was at the peak of her unsurpassed beauty, delivers a daring and commanding performance.

"Un Chien Andalou" was the brainchild of Spanish filmmaker Luis Bunuel and artist Salvador Dali and is the highly influential harbinger of surrealist filmmaking. Designed to shock, the twenty minute short is constructed like a nightmare, featuring illogical, nonlinear, and now famous imagery, which includes a man with ants on his hands and the jarring eyeball slashing scene. Even its title has no significance or relevance towards the plot. From subsequent short films and music videos, through low-budget and experimental films, and up unto the films of David Lynch and the like, you can see this short's weird and immeasurable influence.