If I loved Un chien andalou...
What feature films will I probably like?
You Can Speak Your Mind, But Not on My Time
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MovieChat Forums > Un chien andalou (1929) Discussion > If I loved Un chien andalou...
eraserhead
shareI completely agree, you will like any David Lynch film. Luis Bunuel died and then Lynch appeared. Try Eraserhead, Inland Empire, Mullholland Drive, Twin Peaks and Fire Walk With Me, Blue Velvet are all really good. Although I like Bunuel I love Lynch.
shareActually, Lynch was well into his film career when Bunuel died (in 1983). Eraserhead was made in 1971 and released in '77, and had made a number of short films prior to that. I think Bunuel and Lynch get mentioned together too much, though. Besides the superficial avant-gardiness of both directors, they really aren't that similar in style, thematatic content, intellectual concerns, etc. And while Lynch is certainly weird and retained a lot of avant-garde narrative streaks throughout his career, I would say that only Eraserhead and a few of his short films fit within the Surrealist tradition.
shareYeah, Bunuel is in a way much more down to earth than Lynch. Honestly speaking I do not like Lynch, but I love Bunuel. This for me, is the best indication that their styles are not that similar. After all, how could it be that I like only one of them if they both have the same style?
Bunuel's themes are the bourgeoisie and the church and he strongly criticizes and ridicules them. He wants said that God and Country are the best team for bloodshed.
Lynch has very different themes in his movies.
I remember from watching the "making of" documentary on my blue velvet dvd, that david lynch said he had only seen one bunuel film at the time he made blue velvet (i cant remember which one), and not to mention blue velvet was made later than eraserhead. I dont think it would be accurate to say that lynch was directly influenced by bunuel.
shareProbably most of Bunuel's catalogue.
Start with L'Age d'Or, which is the film he made directly after this one and had some input from Dali as well. It's the closest in style and is about an hour long.
There are a lot of periods to Bunuel's career and a lot of different types of narrative he explored, but the ones that are closest in style and spirit to his early stuff you might wanna check out would be:
Los Hurdes (Land Without Bread)
The Exterminating Angel
Simon of the Desert
The Milky Way
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
The Phantom of Liberty
Of course I'm missing a couple other Bunuel classics like Veridiana and Belle du Jour, but the ones above have the most Surrealist style in them, IMO.
You might also want to check out some of Jean luc Godard's late 60s work, particularly Peirrot le Fou, and most importantly, Weekend.
Jan Svankmajer is also a definite must watch. I'd recommend watching his short films first, most of which feature freaky stop-motion animation. I'm sure you can get a hold of his Collected Works vol 1&2 somewhere, but some his most important shorts include "Dimensions of Dialogue," "Darkness/Light/Darkness," "Into the Cellar," "Jabberwocky," and "Food." Some of his full-length movies that best exemplify his take on Surrealism include Alice (based on Alice in Wonderland), Faust (based on Marlowe's version), The Conspirators of Pleasure (inspired by de Sade, Bunuel, Dali, and Max Ernst among others), and Lunacy (based on works by Edgar Allan Poe and the Marquis de Sade).
Along with the other recommendations in the thread, I highly recommned:
Dreyer's "Vampyr"
Andersson's "Songs from the Second Floor"
Madden's "The Saddest Music in the World"
Shimizu's "Marebito"
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try Resnais' Marienbad or Hiroshima mon amour, as incomprehensible as ANdalusian Dog...:-)
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Try Czech Stop-Frame animator Jan Svankmajer. Here's just a few of his noteworthy stuff-
"The Short Films of Jan Svankmajer"
"Faust"
"Little Otik"
And this is a stretch, but try David Cronenberg. I'm not sure you can call hima surrealist but his films do have some pretty heady themes and interesting visuals. He has done a handful of very successful commercial stuff (The Dead Zone, The Fly Remake, A History of Violence, Eastern Promises) but the films he is most known for are pretty bizarre and often times fascinating. Here's a few-
"Naked Lunch"
"Videodrome"
"Dead Ringers"
I highly recommend the films of Alejandro Jodorowsky, especially The Holy Mountain, or El Topo.
Also, some of the Kenneth Anger films are great. Check out Scorpio Rising, or Lucifer Rising. Both are totally unique, surreal excursions.
"It...hasn't got a beak!"
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You might want to check the other surrealist (and Dada) movies made by the movements' artists:
Man Ray: Return to Reason: 1923
René Clair: Entr'acte: 1924
Fernand Leger: Ballet Mecanique: 1924
René Clair: La Voyage Imaginaire: 1925
Marcel Duchamp: Anemic Cinema: 1926
Man Ray: Emak-Bakia: 1926
Hans Richter: Ghosts Before Breakfast: 1928
Man Ray: L'Étoile de Mer: 1928
Germaine Dulac: The Seashell and the Clergyman: 1928
Man Ray: The Mysteries of the Chateau de De: 1929
Jean Cocteau: The Blood of a Poet: 1930
Hans Richter: Dreams That Money Can Buy: 1947
Hans Richter/Jean Cocteau: 8 x 8: A Chess Sonata in 8 Movements: 1957
Maya Deren, who wasn't a surrealist (in the sense back then you could only be one if Andre Breton gave you his blessing), made a lovely surrealist short called Meshes of the Afternoon (1943) that's worth seeing, and in my opinion superior to An Andaluzian Dog.
This world is a comedy to those that think, a tragedy to those that feel.
I watched Un Chien Andalou, Eraserhead (1977) and Akira (1988) all within a two-week period. All absolutely brilliant and highly recommended, but, I had some weird dreams as a result.
"May the Force be with you."
"I can do anything. Is America."
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