Tuesday, October 21, 2008
HETERO S & M
Today's NYTimes Best 1176 Film was Luis Buñuel's
Cet obscur objet du désir /That Obscure Object of Desire (1977)
with Fernando Rey as a silver fox who refuses to give up on chasing a world class cock tease played by not one but two actresses (Angela Molina and Carole Bouquet) in a sort of random appearance way. I thought one was sort of an earth mother/sex goddess type and the other was a virginal frigid.
Double teaming the man who is not stupid. He wants this chase. So do, I think, the women.
There is a terrorist uprising going on around the action along with a deadly virus that is creeping up on them. None of this startles or jars the participants out of their intense pursuit of unhappiness with each other.
There are many symbols. A mouse caught in a trap. An animal being carried in a burlap sack. It is the 70's after all.
The film unfolds as a tale told on a train by the guy. There is some truth to his tale because we have seen some evidence that something has and is going on. But it could also be a fantasy. In any case the listeners are enthralled and don't seem to be bothered by the terrorists either.
This is Buñuel's last film and he does his damnedest to keep glued to our seats.
He is quite successful.
I would watch it again just to catch more clues and to watch the two women go to work on this sap.
Don't be misled by the headline. While the action is totally heterosexual there is a counterpart in homosexual affairs that plays out in just the same way.
So I guess it is human. I just didn't relate to the attractions involved. I was more interested in the guy who cuckolds the main guy who, it turns out, is said to be queer.
It is that kind of movie.
I will give it a 4 out of Netflix5.
Labels: best films
