Él
1955 Directed by Luis Buñuel
Synopsis
Francisco is rich, rather strict on principles, and still a bachelor. After meeting Gloria by accident, he is suddenly intent on her becoming his wife and courts her until she agrees to marry him. Francisco is a dedicated husband, but little by little his passion starts to exhibit disturbing traits. Nevertheless, Gloria meets with scepticism as she expresses her worries to their acquaintances.
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There are a lot of films about jealousy, but there's something particularly compelling about Él.
I wasn't entirely fond of its cheapish mid-century melodrama production values, and I still have issues with the jumpy, expository way Buñuel sometimes handles the passing of time. But otherwise this film became quite fascinating.
It's in the strong central performances and the way it makes both Francisco and Gloria sympathetic (though I speak as someone who's never had to cope with a pathologically jealous partner).
Gloria is easy to care about, as she is a nice woman who falls for and is then victimised by a possessive man who sees threats to his relationship everywhere.
Francisco is made very interesting in his reactions. Confronted… -
Although slightly more melodramatic, I feel this does have the edge over the later, ‘Criminal Life of Archibaldo de La Cruz’, which covers similar territory with more humour. A gripping and frightening tale of obsession that has a surprisingly large amount of echoes of Hitchcock’s later, ‘Vertigo’ and seemingly that director took the bell tower sequence in its entirety. Still, who cares, great films remain great films, even when their inspiration may be revealed. The ending is low key but we are left in little doubt as to the state of mind of our hero/villain. Great performances help what might have seemed a preposterous tale, ring only too true. Probably best watched after Archibaldo, then the impact will be all the more great.
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[rewatch 10/29/11] One of Bunuel's best films, and certainly the finest of his lesser-known work. An intense, gripping study of a man who goes from merely asshole to outright insane, perhaps driven just a bit by his fondness for feet (the film's alternate title is "This Strange Passion"). In a powerhouse performance by Arturo de Cordova, Francisco is jealous, irrational, impulsive, self-centered, paranoid, delusional, megalomaniacal, misanthropic and sadistic. Bunuel leaves it up to the viewer to imagine what he's doing to Julia as we hear her tormented screams echo through the mansion... or what he has in mind when he sneaks into her room with a rope, a razor blade and a pair of scissors. Bunuel isn't known for flashy…
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A perfect melodrama all the way to the last stumble.
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Your typical Bunuel shoe-fetish film. NYU offers a whole class studying the genre in detail.
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There are a lot of films about jealousy, but there's something particularly compelling about Él.
I wasn't entirely fond of its cheapish mid-century melodrama production values, and I still have issues with the jumpy, expository way Buñuel sometimes handles the passing of time. But otherwise this film became quite fascinating.
It's in the strong central performances and the way it makes both Francisco and Gloria sympathetic (though I speak as someone who's never had to cope with a pathologically jealous partner).
Gloria is easy to care about, as she is a nice woman who falls for and is then victimised by a possessive man who sees threats to his relationship everywhere.
Francisco is made very interesting in his reactions. Confronted… -
Although slightly more melodramatic, I feel this does have the edge over the later, ‘Criminal Life of Archibaldo de La Cruz’, which covers similar territory with more humour. A gripping and frightening tale of obsession that has a surprisingly large amount of echoes of Hitchcock’s later, ‘Vertigo’ and seemingly that director took the bell tower sequence in its entirety. Still, who cares, great films remain great films, even when their inspiration may be revealed. The ending is low key but we are left in little doubt as to the state of mind of our hero/villain. Great performances help what might have seemed a preposterous tale, ring only too true. Probably best watched after Archibaldo, then the impact will be all the more great.
-
[rewatch 10/29/11] One of Bunuel's best films, and certainly the finest of his lesser-known work. An intense, gripping study of a man who goes from merely asshole to outright insane, perhaps driven just a bit by his fondness for feet (the film's alternate title is "This Strange Passion"). In a powerhouse performance by Arturo de Cordova, Francisco is jealous, irrational, impulsive, self-centered, paranoid, delusional, megalomaniacal, misanthropic and sadistic. Bunuel leaves it up to the viewer to imagine what he's doing to Julia as we hear her tormented screams echo through the mansion... or what he has in mind when he sneaks into her room with a rope, a razor blade and a pair of scissors. Bunuel isn't known for flashy…