L'AGE D'OR (1930)

Cast

Plot

The film opens as a young woman sits compliantly while Buñuel takes a razor and slices her eye open. What follows is a surrealist exposition. The film focuses on a man's attempt to make love to a woman, who always seems out of reach. He is grabbed by two men and led around the streets, staring into images which become animated. The film has its unpleasant moments; a man executes his young son for a minor offence, a blind man is assaulted crossing a road, but Bunuel's savage humour is always evident; the man throws various objects out of a window, including a Burning Tree, a Priest and a Giraffe. The primary assault, as usual, is on the bourgeoisie; in a scene at a dinner party a maid burns in the kitchen and a horse-cart driven by peasants trespasses through all the guests, who remain oblivious to all. It concludes with a controversial religious scene, which was the main reason it was banned for so long. Strangely compelling!