"Thank God I'm an atheist."

This week's series, for whatever reason the wind did will, is European film directors.  And first up is the great Spaniard Surrealist filmmaker, Luis Buñuel.  (I figure that's appropriate since Midnight in Paris won an Oscar, and one of my favorite scenes was Owen Wilson's character Gil trying to talk Luis (played by Adrian de Van) into making The Exterminating Angel (1962)).

It was at college that Buñuel met Salvador Dali, which would eventually culminate in the making of Un Chien Andalou (1929), the infamous surrealist short with the toe-curling eyeball-slicing scene (When researching images of Buñuel, I was kinda disturbed by how many copies there are of that image on-line.)  Buñuel ultimately made films in Spain, France, Mexico and did some minor film work in the U.S.  Probably his best known work are his later films that he directed in France, including Belle de Jour (1967) and The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972)

My first introduction to his feature work was in college in Charles Ramirez-Berg's brilliant film history class at UT with Los Olvidados (1950).  While I enjoy the man's work, I must admit to having taken a long time between taking one in and the next.  Buñuel is an artist to be savored and mulled over, definitely not gulped down.