Un Chien Andalou

I’ve decided to start including reviews for short films here, as there is a wealth of great stuff out there to examine. It should come as no surprise, therefore, that Un Chien Andalou is the first short film that I’ll be looking at. Anyone with any interest in cinema as an art form has likely seen or at the least heard of Un Chien Andalou. It is arguably one of the most influential short pieces in early cinema and certainly breaks a lot of boundaries with its bold style and incredible content. I had to keep reminding myself that the film was from 1929.

Un Chien Andalou comes to us from Spanish director Luis Bunuel. This would be Bunuel’s first work and would begin a long career of filmmaking in which he would direct 32 films. Bunuel wrote 39 films. His final directed film was 1977′s That Obscure Object of Desire, an erotic film about obsession. Bunuel work largely relies on the surreal and there is perhaps no finer example of surrealist cinema than Un Chien Andalou. Dreams were what fed Bunuel’s imagination, as his early films as a surrealist in Paris and his later films from the late 1970s would evidence. He was never concerned with traditional conventions in terms of filmmaking, but rather almost went out of his way to confuse and bewilder the audience.

Un Chien Andalou is a flawless example of that attention to imagination. The film, also written by surrealist artist Salvador Dali, was never intended to make sense. As is likely the case, many interpretations are floating around about the ideas and the thoughts within Un Chien Andalou, but the reality is that Bunuel and Dali simply did not care for cohesiveness. The only hidden meanings, therefore, are those that the viewer places on the film. The idea behind the film was to provide a sort of revolutionary shock to audiences and critics at the time, to go out of the way to provide something so shocking and strange that it would alienate people and divide them. That was Bunuel’s mission here. It was Bunuel’s way of fighting back against a society he despised.

As a film, Un Chien Andalou is not an enjoyable experience, nor is it a film that is really up for review based on typical merits like acting or direction. Instead, it is a chaotic film that evidences disconnected timelines and a lot of allegorical notions. The techniques of the film have been so certainly absorbed by our modern culture that almost all of the shock of the film is gone, but framing Un Chien Andalou in the right context is the best way to experience Bunuel’s intentions. The famous “eye-slicing” scene, for example, is one of the more excruciatingly bold scenes to witness because of the bravery of the scene and because of the impact that such a projection would have in 1929.

Un Chien Andalou was also one of the very first independent films. Made not with the help of a studio or with any significant money, this was Bunuel’s project and this was his love. The film is the beginning of Bunuel’s journey through film and the introduction to a filmmaker that would very much try to do things “his way” for the bulk of his career. He was a rejector of the industry and was fired for insulting Abel Gance before landing his feet on solid ground. Bunuel was the classic rebel filmmaker, a kid from Spain that came to France to experience the surrealist movement. As a result of his energy, he became a significant part of it and Un Chien Andalou is one of the broadest strokes of his career.

So as you watch Un Chien Andalou – and hopefully you do – bear the context of the film in mind. Bear in mind that Bunuel’s desire was to, along with Dali, to throw as many irrational concepts on the screen as possible. The idea behind Un Chien Andalou was never to make sense. No, quite the contrary. The idea behind the film was to incite riots, produce tangible and ugly results, and to create a revolution in cinema that would change the way people thought of art. This was a rebellion piece if there ever was one.

Note: The film can be found in several locations online. A simple search engine will turn up several results.