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bunuelian wrote:Susana does have some wonderfully humorous moments, however. One shot in particular stands out in my mind, when we watch Susana bending over doing some scrubbing, with her tits giggling, and she looks up sharply at the manboy she's seducing. It's one of the sexiest moments in all of Bunuel's work - her look goes right to the hearts/dicks of the men watching the film for the titty payoff.

There are several of these Susana-uses-her-sex-as-a-weapon scenes in the movie. My favorite is when Susana is cleaning the panes on the glass doors of the bookcase, bosom heaving, while Don Fernando Soler polishes the barrel of his shotgun.

I disagree about this being minor Bunuel. Perhaps I'm biased -- I actually enjoy Bunuel's Mexican output as a whole much more than his earliest and latest works. But Susana is a film I can watch endlessly. It's charming and, I think, note-perfect in its portrayal of the reform school girl come to wreck the peaceful rancho by seducing anyone with a scrotum. I think it's a great doublefeature with El Bruto, as Susana and Katy Jurado's character in that film share certain affinities as lustful creatures. Also, I think it's interesting to see Bunuel's characterizations of the elderly in both films -- the slumlord's practically diapered dad in Bruto, and the dicho-spouting housekeeper in Susana. This film is especially about the subversion of order and even when order is seemingly restored, there's more subversion in the subtext.

Again, I highly recommend it to fans of epoca de oro Mexican cinema, Bunuelophiles and Russ Meyer fans. Ok, maybe they'll find it tame. But I dig it.

davidhare wrote:Speaking of Mexican Bunuel does anyone else have a soft spot for Abismos de Pasion? Along with the Rivette it's surely the best Wuthering Heights around. And light years ahead of the Wyler.

Weren't you the one proclaiming Subida al Cielo the greatest of Bunuel's Mexican films? I finally saw it last week and you were right.

davidhare wrote:Speaking of Mexican Bunuel does anyone else have a soft spot for Abismos de Pasion? Along with the Rivette it's surely the best Wuthering Heights around. And light years ahead of the Wyler.

See soft spot here. I really am awed by the Mexican Bunuels (Eclipse boxset, anyone?) and his Cumbres Borrascosas aka Abismos de Pasion is a great one. Transposing the moors to the monte is a stylistic leap and a rewarding one, replete with Bunuel's entomological urges rising to the fore and the corpse bride at the foot of the grave. Some terrific surrealist imagery here, and who knows what was made of it at the time, but I think -- like many Mexican Bunuels -- it's woefully underrated.

Subida al Cielo is Bunuel's oneiric road picture, which also captures, as has been posited here, the socioeconomic and political atmosphere of the time and place. Fascinating that davidhare brings that up -- the politics of Bunuel -- as they are part and parcel of nearly every one of his Mexican films: the blind beggar and the rich pederast in Olvidados, where love is dreamed as a giant raw steak; the educated and the untutored in El Rio y la Muerte; those who would work for free and those who would lose the strength of their labor unions in Nazarin.

The more Mexican Bunuel, the merrier. I can't recommend these films enough -- there's always something to be found. And to that end, I also heartily recommend the book of interviews, "Objects of Desire," by Perez Turrent and de la Colina, which spends several worthy pages on these "bread-and-butter" years.

Reading this review of the German Bunuel Mexico box set makes me really sorry that it's only got German subtitles... The review says each film is wonderfully restored, so is there any chance of an English-subtitled release?

Also, why have symbols like ñ in topic titles become garbled? Is it possible to fix this?

A few days ago I picked up

A Woman Without Love (1951)
Starring: Roberto Canedo, Dolores Del Rio Director: Luis Bunuel

# Studio: Facets Cinemateca
# DVD Release Date: September 25, 2007
# Run Time: 91 minutes

Haven't had a chance to check it out yet, except to confirm that it has Eng. subtitles.

Are there any other good DVDs for his films besides the films Criterion has already offered?

Im looking to see these films:

The Exterminating Angel
The Brute
Nazarin
Tristana
Los Olvidados
Simon of the Desert

Are there quality releases of these films or should I wait patiently for Criterion to release them?

username-Italian Style wrote:The Exterminating Angel

Criterion is definitely releasing this one in the near future.

username-Italian Style wrote:The Brute

Actually, I'd say that, overall, this is the best of the three Bunuels that Facets recently released in terms of A/V quality. The microscopic subtitles are still a problem, but less so depending on the size of your screen.

Nazarin

This was one of the Mexican Alter titles that I picked up, so I presume the upcoming Lionsgate release will be similar. As the "youngest" of the Mexican films released by Alter, it looks the best, but it's nothing to write home about. At $10, however, the upcoming Lionsgate will be a no-brainer.

Tristana

I presume that the R2 is the best existing version of this title, but it's the weakest in Optimum's boxset by far. Unless you went for the boxset, it's probably best to wait on Criterion.

Los Olvidados

This was also one of Alter's releases -- and probably the worst-looking of the lot. It deserves a full-out restoration, considering its stature, but the announced Lionsgate release probably throws a monkey-wrench into KochLorber's plans. (They were promising a restoration.)

Simon of the Desert

Like Exterminating Angel, Janus/Criterion have the rights to this one. Like other folks around here, I was surprised that Criterion didn't release the two of these with Viridiana. Otherwise, due to its length, Simon may be a problematic title to market. Perhaps if Criterion packaged it with a definitive version of Las Hurdes (i.e., with its three existing soundtracks), that might work. At any rate, it's probably best just to wait for Criterion, and whet your appetite for it with TCM's regular showings (which seem to happen about once a year).

One for the UK contingent: last month they gave away VIRIDIANA, this week it's THE EXTERMINATING ANGEL. The INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY has a Bunuelito on board!

wow, thanks, i wasn't aware of it, will definitely get it.

Yes, thanks reaky. I don't normally get the IoS, but I will tomorrow.

I recently spotted a copy of Luis Bunuel's Wuthering Heights on DVD in a shop whose cover art was red with black letters. I believe it was priced at $22. When I tried to go online and do some research about it, I couldn't find an image of this dvd anywhere. Is anyone aware of which version of this movie this dvd is and if that's a decent price for it?

Anyone have the FSF edition of Bunuel's "Wuthering Heights?" How is the print quality? Do you think that Lions Gate will release this film in addition to the other films in his Mexican period that they've already released/announced?

Any input would be appreciated. Thanks!

Wittsdream wrote:Anyone have the FSF edition of Bunuel's "Wuthering Heights?" How is the print quality? Do you think that Lions Gate will release this film in addition to the other films in his Mexican period that they've already released/announced?

Do you have FSF's other Bunuel releases (El, Los Olvidados, etc.)? If so, then Wuthering Heights is comparable in terms of A/V quality. That is, it's more than acceptable.

My guess is that Criterion and not Lionsgate have the rights to this one. Most of the Mexican films they released in that late-April batch (both Bunuel and not) were Alter titles. So it looks like the rights for the films that FSF have released are owned by somebody else and thus likely not part of the Lionsgate deal.

tryavna wrote:Do you have FSF's other Bunuel releases (El, Los Olvidados, etc.)? If so, then Wuthering Heights is comparable in terms of A/V quality. That is, it's more than acceptable.

My guess is that Criterion and not Lionsgate have the rights to this one. Most of the Mexican films they released in that late-April batch (both Bunuel and not) were Alter titles. So it looks like the rights for the films that FSF have released are owned by somebody else and thus likely not part of the Lionsgate deal.

Thanks for the response. I actually went ahead and purchased the FSF edition, and yes, it is comparable in quality to "El." I am also in agreement with you that I believe Criterion is a better bet to release this, along with "Los Olvidados," than Lionsgate or some other label. Just wondering though, what is taking Criterion so long to release "Exterminating Angel" and 'Simon of the Desert." Those would easily be the most-anticipated of Bunuel films without acceptable DVD releases (I've heard the UK R2 disc of "Angel" erroneously amends the double exit scene early in the film). How dumb was that?

Koch Lorber will release Olvidados if they win the lawsuit. If not, it will most likely be Lionsgate.

The print of Exterminating Angel that showed on TCM in 2005 (with Janus logos) did not have the double exit scene. I thought this was put in by American distributors to make the film "more surreal (boogie boogie boogie)" but then I might be mistaken.

justeleblanc wrote:The print of Exterminating Angel that showed on TCM in 2005 (with Janus logos) did not have the double exit scene. I thought this was put in by American distributors to make the film "more surreal (boogie boogie boogie)" but then I might be mistaken.

So then the R2 DVD of "Angel" is the version that Bunuel had intended? For some reason, I remember a backlash against this release a couple of years ago for contravening the original (i.e. double exit) cut of the film. Either way, I think I'll just wait for the definitive Criterion release.

Wittsdream wrote:

justeleblanc wrote:The print of Exterminating Angel that showed on TCM in 2005 (with Janus logos) did not have the double exit scene. I thought this was put in by American distributors to make the film "more surreal (boogie boogie boogie)" but then I might be mistaken.

So then the R2 DVD of "Angel" is the version that Bunuel had intended?

No, absolutely not!

In his autobiography Luis Buñuel wrote:'In life, as in film, I've always been fascinated by repetition' ... 'There are at least a dozen repetitions in The Exterminating Angel' ... 'Another repetition occurs when the guests enter the hall and the host calls his butler twice; in fact, it's the same scene, but shot from different angles.'

More info here.

Death in the Garden / La Mort en ce jardin (Bunuel, 1956)

Went to my local coffee shop this morning. A couple of guys next to me were looking over a picture of Simone Signoret on a laptop. I got to talking to them. The Signoret picture was a cover for an upcoming DVD of Death in the Garden. One guy was the graphic designer, and from what I gathered, the other guy was the producer. I didn't catch the name of their company.

They showed me what they were working on and it looked pretty tight. Death in the Garden is one of those obscure Bunuel films from his Mexican period that I've always enjoyed watching. So I was happy to hear the producer guy say they were giving it "loving treatment." He said the DVD will include an interview with Michel Piccoli that he himself shot. As for a release date, all he could give me was probably early fall.

Great news, thanks for the inside scoop!

david hare wrote:To Mods how the fuck do you let these vermin/bots in?

This guy's been a member for several months and has made useful posts before. I see no reason to reject this rumor out-of-hand. It's not like he says he found a copy of Four Devils or anything.

Matt wrote:It's not like he says he found a copy of Four Devils or anything.

Oh, speaking of which, I was cleaning out my attic the other day, and you wouldn't believe what I found...

Death in the Garden really doesn't seem like an outlandish claim to me. For what it's worth, it played as part of a Bunel retrospective at last year's Berlinale.

arsonfilms wrote:Death in the Garden really doesn't seem like an outlandish claim to me. For what it's worth, it played as part of a Bunel retrospective at last year's Berlinale.

Maybe I'm blind here, but what would I have to gain here? Seriously, I'm truly naive on this BOT issue. What does BOT stand for?

echopark_dweller wrote:What does BOT stand for?

Wikipedia

Confirmation here and here.

Someone owes echopark_dweller an apology...