Luis Bunuel and Orson Welles

Paper Summary:

This paper looks at the contributions of Luis Bunuel, director of the Surrealist film "Un Chien Andalou"; (An Andalusian Dog) and Orson Welles, director of the American classic film, "Citizen Kane". It shows how both directors have given significant input to the history of film that are currently and still in practice.

From the Paper:

"Luis Bunuel is a Spanish director who was known primarily for his contribution the Surrealist movement that emerged along with the French Impressionist movement during the latter part of 1920s. "Un Chien Andalou" (An Andalusian Dog), which was produced in the year 1928, marked the beginning of the use of surrealism in films. During this time period, surrealism is fast becoming a popular movement, and is prevalent in the visual arts, such as the paintings of Andre Breton and Salvador Dali. Incidentally, Dali is influential in Bunuel's works because his works include those of Dali's paintings, one of which was shown in "Un Chien Andalou." The Surrealist movement is characterized to be the anti-thesis of the normative formula of most films. Instead of adapting a narrative form and style, Surrealist films are antinarrative, and appeals mainly to the subconscious thoughts of people. Surrealist works are also devoid of logic, as can be seen in Bunuel's portrayal of a woman sucking the toes of a statue, and the popular scene wherein Bunuel himself cut with a razor the eyeballs of a woman. These scenes are evidently devoid of any logic, and in fact, surrealist films do not aim to explain at all whatever message (if there is a message) a film has."

More papers on Luis Bunuel and Orson Welles:

• Film Review # 101374 : "Orson Welles: His Art as it Manifests itself in "Citizen Kane"
• Term Paper # 100113 : "Chaos Versus Order: Orson Welles' "Othello"
• Film Review # 33088 : "Triumph of the Will" and "Un Chien Andalou"."

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