"People always want an explanation of everything. It is the consequence of centuries of bourgeois education. And for everything for which they cannot find an explanation, they resort in the last instance to God. But what is the use of that? Eventually they have to explain God!"
Luis Buñuel Portolés (22 February 1900 – 29 July 1983) was a Spanish filmmaker best known for his surrealist works such as Un Chien Andalou, L'Age d'Or and The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie. He debuted in 1929 with Un Chien Andalou, which was his first taste of the controversy and negative reactions he would experience over the years. Over his career, he would win several awards at film festivals around the world, and Discreet Charm won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film. He died in Mexico City, Mexico in 1983.
Works by Luis Buñuel that have pages on TV Tropes: (in chronological order)
- The Fall of the House of Usher (screenplay)
- Un Chien Andalou
- L'Age d'Or
- Los Olvidados
- The Young One
- Viridiana
- The Exterminating Angel
- Diary of a Chambermaid (1964)
- Simon of the Desert
- Belle de Jour
- The Milky Way
- Tristana
- The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie.
- Le fantôme de la liberté
- That Obscure Object of Desire
"Surrealist tropes":
- Author Appeal: His films often have scenes that were filmed simply so he could film scenarios involving his various fetishes.
- Biography: 1983's Mon Dernier Soupir (My Last Sigh).
- Black Comedy: All of his films, even the ones that are kind of serious.
- Christianity is Catholic: Despite being a professed atheist, Bunuel admitted that he felt most at home with Catholic culture. All his films heavily feature Catholic imagery, even the ones in Mexico (which has a more syncretized kind of Catholicism).
- Eye Scream: Un Chien Andalou provides one of the most famous examples.
- Le Film Artistique: Un Chien Andalou was a pioneer of this. L'Age d'Or is even more so.
- Gainax Ending: In some of his films. Notable examples include Tristana, The Phantom of Liberty, The Exterminating Angel, and many others.
- Happy Ending: Surprisingly there are films with this. Most famously and ironically, The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz; after listening to Archibaldo's "confession" about entertaining fantasies of killing several people who later turned up dead, the police point out that he didn't act on any of those fantasies (one of his "victims" died in an accident, another committed suicide, and a third was shot by her ex-lover just after she married Archibaldo) and release him without charge. He runs into Lavinia, whom he loved but who married another man whom she tells him she has since divorced, and the final shot suggests they may end up together.
- Humans Are Bastards: The general sense you get from his movies.
- Mind Screw: Oh yeah. Often for the viewers and, in Discreet Charm, even for the characters.
- No Ending: His favorite kind of ending.
- Surreal Humor: Of course. Un Chien Andalou was responsible for the Surrealists accepting Buñuel and Dalí as their own. But all his films have this really.
- Take That!: His two favourite targets for satirical jabs were the bourgeoisie (who are frequently portrayed as morally bankrupt and obsessed with appearances; The Exterminating Angel in particular shows how animalistic and cruel they can be beneath their respectable facades) and the Catholic Church (who are often depicted as greedy hypocrites; for example, the monks in The Phantom of Liberty smoke, drink, and gamble holy relics on a game of poker).
- We Used to Be Friends: He and Salvador Dalí had a very nasty falling out during the production of L'Age D'Or, due to Buñuel's Communist sympathies and Dalí's support for aristocrats and, later, Spanish dictator Generalissimo Francisco Franco. They never resolved their issues either. Buñuel was also friends with Federico García Lorca and took his side following his falling out with Dalí.
