A group of middle-class friends find their dinner parties interrupted time and time again by strange, random events.
Spanish-born Luis Buñuel arrived in Paris in the 1920's and became part of the growing avant-garde scene and in short time became one of cinema's most controversial figures and its leading surrealist due to his collaboration with painter Salvador Dali. Subsequent works found him in controversy with the Catholic Church, a battle that would wage externally and internally with the director for the remainder of his life. After working in exile in Mexico (and occasionally Hollywood) as a result of the Spanish Civil War, Dali returned to Europe in the mid-1960's and finished off his career with a late renaissance of French-funded films which elevated him to the pantheon of great directors.
Coming off two of his most sardonic and pointed criticisms of the Church (The Milky Way and Tristana), Buñuel eased back into a more humorous and abstract vibe for this production, some sequences based on the director's actual dreams. Collaborating again with surrealist screenwriter Jean-Claude Carriere (Belle du Jour), the pair focused on one of Buñuel's other favorite targets: middle class society and culture. The Church and other institutions do not manage to entirely escape Buñuel's crosshairs regardless.
The cast is filled with French New Wave icons such as Stéphane Audran (star of numerous Claude Chabrol films), Delphine Seyrig (Stolen Kisses, Last Year At Marienbad, Bulle Ogier (Céline And Julie Go Boating), Jean-Pierre Cassel (Army Of Shadows, Michel Piccoli (Contempt, Belle du Jour) as well as Buñuel's frequent Spanish star Fernando Rey (The French Connection). Cinematographer Edmond Richard was coming off two late-period masterpieces by Orson Welles.
Like Alfred Hitchcock, Buñuel was known for leaving himself few options during production and shooting exactly what he had meticulously planned in advance and thought he needed to edit. The debut of video playback on the set of Bourgeoisie allowed the director to attempt some different visual approaches. His actors were usually left to their own devices, this film no exception.
The film was released to rapturous reviews and box office success in Europe as well as the U.S., where it received Academy Award nominations for its screenplay and for Foreign Film, and winning Buñuel an Oscar for the latter. It also received Best Film and Best Director honors from the National Society of Film Critics. Buñuel would make two more films in France before retiring to write his notorious autobiography (with Carriere's help) followed by his death in 1983.
Running time is approx. 1 hr, 45 min.
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