La montée au ciel

I love Bunuel, and as such I had to see this film even though his Mexican period is my least favorite. I found it at the library (the only Bunuel film they had in fact). What we get is a very sloppy, poorly edited, and VERY poorly subtitled film.

In this little Mexican town, there aren't any legal ways to get married so as long as the groom has the to-be mother-in-law's blessing, then the couple is considered married. Well, before our new couple even get a mile out of town, they are informed that his mother is on her death bed and needs him to go to town to get the man who always takes care of the family's affairs. From there, we get on the bus.

On the bus, we have the silly driver, the town femme fatale, a politician, a couple who become new parents while on the ride, and a few other odd characters. You can see some of Bunuel's surreal effects shine through, if only slightly, in the mishaps along the way. For example, the bus driver tries to make the bus go across a lake at one point which of course it cant and it ends up being a 5 year old girl leading two oxen that saves the day. We also have a scene where the bus comes face to face with another vehicle (that cant go in reverse) on a steep mountain trail. After a few moments, everything is fine again, but we don't know why. Thats Bunuel for you.

Overall, I wouldn't say the film is bad. Its great to see all the stages that a director goes through, especially someone like Bunuel who is one of the finest directors to have ever lived. The biggest flaw with this film, which will hopefully be fixed once this gets a DVD release (Criterion are you listening?), is that the subtitles are quite possibly the worst I've ever seen. the first problem is that they're white and in some cases you cant see the far left or the far right of the words because they stretch off the screen, and the worst part is that you can tell that half of whats being said isn't even translated at all. Thankfully I know a tiny bit of Spanish and the gesticulations of the actors were good enough to allow me to get at least the gist of what was going on. For the most part, you might as well be watching a silent film.

This definitely ends up being an interesting glimpse into the life of 1950s Mexico. Its such a crude life but everyone seems to be happy. Its worth seeing, but only if you're a hardcore Bunuel fan or you are studying Mexican life of the 1950s.

Luis Buñuel, I believe, is one of the ten greatest directors of all time, and "Mexican Bus Ride" is a perfect example of why; not because it's one of his best films, but because it's one of his worst films, and yet it's wonderful. It's certainly not Buñuel at his most brilliant, but it may be something near Buñuel at his most delightful. This was a joyous viewing experience for me.

Buñuel began his filmmaking career in Paris, directing a short film in 1929 called "Un chien andalou", which was co-written by none other than the great surrealist painter, Salvador Dalí. It wasn't exactly the first film of its kind — René Clair's "Entr'acte" in 1924 was stylistically similar — but it was extremely audacious and a milestone in the attempt to bring true, uncompromising art to the cinema.

Buñuel and Dalí collaborated on one more film, "L'age d'or", in 1930, which was followed by Buñuel's documentary short, "Las Hurdes" (a.k.a "Land Without Bread"), in 1933. That marked the end of this early period in Buñuel's career. He would not make any more films for fourteen years.

In order to break back into the film industry, Buñuel had to accept a commercial, mainstream project that was, artistically speaking, beneath his dignity. And so his fourteen-year hiatus came to an end with the release of the 1947 Mexican film, "Gran Casino". It was the only truly bad Buñuel film I've ever seen, but it served its purpose: It got Buñuel on his feet again, and the subsequent run of Mexican pictures that Buñuel directed was fantastic.

The most famous films from this Mexican period in Buñuel's career came at the end of it, in the early '60s: "Viridiana", "The Exterminating Angel", and "Simon of the Desert", after which he returned to making mostly French films to finish his career, and his final three films — "The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie", "The Phantom of Liberty", and "That Obscure Object of Desire" — are perhaps his greatest masterpieces.

Still, the early films from Buñuel's Mexican period are a true pleasure to watch. Amongst them, we have more serious films like "Los olvidados", an uncharacteristic exercise in social realism, and "Susana", which in many ways was an early dress rehearsal for "Tristana". Those are probably the best films out of his first half-dozen or so Mexican films, but the others, excluding "Gran Casino", are very enjoyable films. They were lighthearted comedies, with varying degrees of drama. They include "The Great Madcap", "Daughter of Deceit", and "Mexican Bus Ride". While none of these are likely to be considered truly great films, and certainly aren't among Buñuel's best, they occupy a very special place in his body of work for me. I'll always have a soft spot for these films.

Of these six films that began his Mexican period, "Susana" was undoubtedly the Buñuel film that reminds us most of the later work that would ultimately define his identity as a filmmaker. It worked on one of Buñuel's most recurring themes: the sexual frustration — the full-fledged torment — that a man can undergo at the hands of a beautiful woman who withholds intimacy. "Tristana" and "That Obscure Object of Desire" are the best-known examples of this, but it's a constant theme throughout Buñuel's body of work, and we see it here in "Mexican Bus Ride", albeit very watered down compared to his later work.

In addition to the marvelous entertainment value of the film, "Mexican Bus Ride" stood out to me as being the first Buñuel feature to really include all of his hallmarks as a filmmaker — all of the elements of the cinema that would eventually constitute his essence as an artist. Granted, they all came in very small doses in this film — they were very unrefined at this point, and none of them fully developed — but they're present, nonetheless.

Buñuel was known as "the father of cinematic surrealism". His oneiric tone and surrealist mode of filmmaking were essential facets of his cinema, and he delivers a great dream sequence in "Mexican Bus Ride". It comes about halfway into the film, and it only lasts about five minutes, but it was a welcome addition to an already very enjoyable viewing experience.

Buñuel was also known as "the scourge of the bourgeoisie". He went beyond the requisite for a leftist filmmaker when he attacked both bourgeois society and bourgeois individuals themselves, generally through unrelenting, scathing satire. This aspect of his cinema isn't by any means present in "Mexican Bus Ride" to the extent that it is in, say, "The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie", but it's there, and it's not difficult to detect.

Surrealism, female sexual dominance, and satirization of the bourgeoisie — these, to me, are the three pillars of Luis Buñuel's cinema, and the most fascinating aspect of his films is observing the various ways in which he's able to intertwine these themes. In "Mexican Bus Ride", all three are somewhat diluted, as Buñuel hadn't yet fully discovered his identity as a filmmaker (or hadn't yet been allowed to fully express it, perhaps), but they're present, together, for the first time in his career in Mexico. Buñuel certainly wasn't able to be as extreme here in his expression of his ideas as he would be later on, and he goes light enough on these themes that, if we weren't looking for them — that is to say, if we didn't know Buñuel so well — we might not attach much significance to them. But for the veteran Buñuel fan, it's all there.

"Mexican Bus Ride" is a legitimately good film. With all his outright brilliance, I often forget how downright fun Buñuel could be, and this film was a great reminder.

RATING: 7.33 out of 10 stars

This is a slight but highly enjoyable Bunuel film that makes for a fine companion piece to the later ILLUSION TRAVELS BY STREETCAR (1954) – with which it shares its leading lady (Lilia Prado) and its folksy 'road movie' theme While the IMDb gives its running time as being 85 minutes, the copy I acquired runs for just 74 (as does the R2 Yume DVD and the NFT print I caught back in January 2007); even so, the film somehow manages to lose steam in its latter stages and proceeds to end rather lamely!

Having said that, there is still much to savor here: Prado burns up the screen as a bombshell nymph who, sporting the skimpiest of outfits, teases the life out of the just-married protagonist (Esteban Marquez) and is herself pursued by a deluded politician (Manuel Donde'). Another performer that stands out is Luis Aceves Castaneda (who would go on to play Ricardo two years later in Bunuel's powerful version of WUTHERING HEIGHTS) as the laid-back bus conductor; in fact, both he and Donde' were singled out for recognition at that year's Ariel awards (as were the film itself, its original story and Bunuel for his direction)! Incredibly enough, such a seemingly simple storyline necessitated the collaboration of five writers(!) including poet Manuel Altolaguirre, an old acquaintance of Bunuel's from his student days, and on whose real-life experiences the film was based. Amusingly enough, the editor on this one, Rafael Portillo, would go on to direct all three "Aztec Mummy" movies!

ASCENT TO HEAVEN (equally well-known under the more prosaic title Mexican BUS RIDE) also competed at that year's Cannes Film Festival (where it surprisingly won the "Avant-Garde" award!) against such worthier contenders as Orson Welles' OTHELLO (the eventual co-winner, with Renato Castellani's TWO PENNYWORTH OF HOPE, of the Grand Prize), Vincente Minnelli's AN American IN Paris (1951), William Wyler's DETECTIVE STORY (1951), Christian-Jaque's FANFAN LA TULIPE, Vittorio De Sica's UMBERTO D, Elia Kazan's VIVA ZAPATA! and three more movies which still lie in my dreaded unwatched pile: Andre' Cayatte's WE ARE ALL MURDERERS, Alberto Lattuada's THE OVERCOAT and Gian Carlo Menotti's THE MEDIUM (1951)!

Eventful bus rides have long been a tradition in Cinema and the vintage British examples Friday THE THIRTEENTH (1933) and THE RUNAWAY BUS (1954) are two more I own but, alas, have yet to check out. In his treatment of this theme, Bunuel includes some pertinent parallel occurrences: a boy's childbirth and a little girl's funeral; a mother's birthday celebration (complete with musical interlude) and another one's lonely death; the missed meeting between Marquez and his mother is made up for in the way he, ironically, adopts treachery – by imprinting his mother's fingerprints on the unsigned legal document after her demise – to ensure that her deathbed wishes are observed!

Indeed, the protagonist's constantly thwarted attempts of reaching a notary in time for his moribund mother to put her will on paper – interrupting his own wedding so that he and his nephew will not be cheated out of their rightful inheritance by his two greedy brothers – looks forward not only to ILLUSION TRAVELS BY STREETCAR itself but also to Bunuel's much later Oscar-winning masterpiece THE DISCREET CHARM OF THE BOURGEOISIE (1972). Similarly, Prado's initially unsuccessful attempts to seduce Marquez recall Fernando Rey's unenviable situation in THAT OBSCURE OBJECT OF DESIRE (1977). Besides, the influx of American tourists into this Mexican everyday scenario predates similar occurrences in both ILLUSION and THE CRIMINAL LIFE OF ARCHIBALDO DE LA CRUZ (1955). Bunuel's indictment of progress is also amusingly brought out here in a sequence where the bus, stuck in the mud-banks of a stream, is eventually pulled out of its predicament by two oxen guided by a little girl (rather than a nearby tractor which is equally ineffective in these aquatic surroundings – despite having its driver held at gunpoint by the irritable politician)!

The deceptively spiritual title – not only is the island setting of San Jeronimito without a church (so that marrying couples need to sail to a neighboring island to consecrate their union) but it specifically refers to a particularly dangerous local mountain pass – could also be referring to the impending death of Marquez's mother; the fate that, according to a drunken Castaneda, awaits his saintly mother for bearing such a godless son; or even a metaphorical allusion to Marquez's ecstasy at the consummation of his lust for Prado (while stranded between two ledges on that very titular spot, no less)! His long-repressed desires had already been externalized in an extraordinary dream sequence where he imagines the bus as, first a field (where his dalliance is disturbed by a horde of stray sheep!) and then a stream (where his wife turns into his lover) and, finally, his mother is propped atop a pillar – 13 years before Bunuel's own SIMON OF THE DESERT! – peeling an apple (like the one that he and Prado had shared moments before) whose skin forms itself into a veritable umbilical cord all the way into her son's mouth! And what should Prado ask him when he wakes up from this reverie if not "Where you thinking of me?" – anticipating the famous opening dream sequence and its aftermath of Bunuel's biggest box office hit BELLE DE JOUR (1967)! Incidentally, another subtly surreal touch is having the bus and another vehicle face each other on a narrow mountain pass where neither of them can possibly reverse to let the other one through...and yet, inexplicably and off-screen, the situation has been resolved by the next shot!

As can be seen from the above, ASCENT TO HEAVEN is no mere populist picaresque comedy; however, I would still single it out as perhaps the ideal 'minor' Bunuel Mexican film to start out with for newcomers and it is unsurprising that the Spanish director himself is said to have been very fond of it.

Attractive film about an adventurous bus-ride to a distant city to get his mom's will notarize , that's why the ill mummy wishes her little child inherits solace at a wealthy home , being well directed by the Spanish Luis Buñuel . It deals with a young and good man , justly married , called Oliverio Grajales (Esteban Mayo) finds his woman's honeymoon is cut short when he awares that his mother has fallen sick back at home . The newlywed couple rush there to discover the other brothers neglecting their mom in order to scheme their squandering of the inheritance . Then , the newlywed son bringing out to life the promise done to his mother , as he takes a journey by bus to find a public Notary . Along the way, he meets a baddie female who ruthlessly uses everyone in his purports and really seduces him , she's wayward Raquel (Lilia Prado) , who is extremely a selfish young , a manipulating babe who hates and seduces , eventually causing distresses , as well as uses her feminine wiles to tempt all around . The sultry , ambitious young attempts to break his marriage by seducing Oliverio to get her egoistic aims . Step by step she causes mayhem and discord among the members of the noisy bus . As the bus passengers become into a frenzied chaos and unrest . And to further complicate things he undertakes a race against time by taking the bus , as he drives it to his destination , while resisting Raquel's temptation.

The movie is well worthy thanks to razor-sharp performances as well as certain critical revealing the hypocrisies of modern society , in which brothers are on pins and attempt to catch their mother's inheritance , needles waiting to sort out her will , while a wayward girl uses the power of manipulation and eroticism to get her dark purports . Based on a story and adaptation by Manuel Altolaguirre , film producer too , as Luis Buñuel wrote that the script was actually adapted from the turbulent adventures that really happened to his friend Spanish poet Manuel Altolaguirre , while on a bus trip . The picture features exceptional work for Lilia Prado as Raquel , a similar role starred by Rosita Quintana in ¨Susana (1951) , she's magnificently charming as well as hateful playing the insidious girl who attempts to dissect the harmonious marriage by romancing Oliveiro . Her acting result to be a phenomenal precedent to the character who played Sue Lyon in ¨Lolita¨ or Carrol Baker in ¨Baby Doll¨ . While Esteban Mayo is acceptable as ecstatic Octavio , as he must take a long and dangerous bus trip to the city to contact a notary for his mother's last will and testament , while is faced with multiple temptations . Furthermore, a beautifully cinematography in subdued black and white by the great cameraman Alex Phillips who worked both , American and Mexican productions . Being shot on various locations in Puerto Marquez, Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico and Estudios Tepeyac, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexicoc. And atmospheric and appropriate musical score by Gustavo Pittaluga, including Mexican songs.

The motion picture was competently directed by Luis Buñuel , belonging to his Mexican period . Buñuel wrote his autobiography, "My Last Sigh" in which detailed his exiled trajectory in Mexico and the troublesome shootings . After filming Spanish and French films as "Un Chien Andalou" (1929) , and ¨Age of Gold¨(1930) , ¨Hurdes tierra sin pan¨ (1936) , Buñuel went on his Mexican period in which he teamed up with producer Óscar Dancigers and after a couple of unmemorable efforts shot back to international attention with the lacerating study of Mexican street urchins in ¨Los Olvidados¨ (1950) , winning him the Best Director award at the Cannes Film Festival . But despite this new-found acclaim, Buñuel spent much of the next decade working on a variety of ultra-low-budget films, few of which made much impact outside Spanish-speaking countries , though many of them are well worth seeking out . As he went on filming "The Great Madcap" , ¨The brute¨, "Wuthering Heights", ¨El¨ , "The Criminal Life of Archibaldo De la Cruz" , ¨Robinson Crusoe¨ , ¨Death in the garden¨ and many others . And finally his second French-Spanish period , usually in collaboration with producer Serge Silberman and writer Jean-Claude Carrière with notorious as well as polemic films , such as : ¨Viridiana¨ , Tristana¨ , ¨The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie" and his last picture , "That Obscure Object of Desire" . Susana rating : 7/10 . Essential and indispensable seeing for Luis Buñuel aficionados.

IMHO,a minor work in Bunuel's extraordinary filmography.The beginning is quite surprising:it recalls "Las Hurdes" with its documentary side and its voice over.But of course,it's not as tragic as the 1932 opus.

There's a theme Bunuel would develop (with great results ): the impossibility to do what you want to do: the heroes of "le Charme Discret de La Bourgeoisie " trying to get a good meal; or in "Cet Obscur Objet Du Desir" ,the woman who never wants to have sex with the hero.Here the young man's wedding night is postponed .But he will find solace (or is it a dream?) in Raquel's arms.

A lot of bizarre things happen on the bus,the birth and the death of a child,notably, and surrealism is not far way when apple peelings become some kind of umbilical cord.