Shock, horror and confusion – these are just few of the words that can describe the cinematic collaboration between Luis Bunuel and Salvador Dali. The idea behind Un Chien Andalou was born in Dali’s house in Spain, where the two surrealists went for a short vacation. There, Bunuel shared his strange dream of a cloud slicing the moon in halt that looked like a razor, cutting human’s eyeball. Captivated by the story, Dali shared his own dream of ants crowing from man’s hand. Spontaneously, as they were still discussing their dreams, Dali proposed Bunuel to create a movie together, and they started writing down their ideas. Their aim was to provoke the public, to shock and frustrate it, by showing irrational and unthinkable pictures. The result is a sixteen minutes experimental movie, with no plot where absurd situations take place, and make the movie jump from one story to another.
The title Un Chien Andalouitself does not make logical sense: translated to English it means An Andalusian dog. For opening scene was chosen Bunuel’s dream with the moon and the cloud. It is a shot a man who is sharpening the blade of a razor, played by Bunuel himself, who then uses it to slice the eyeball of a woman (Simone Mareuil). Then, the non-linear story line of the movie follows a parade of scenes, not connected to one another, showing irrational images like a hand crawling with ants, man (Pierre Batcheff) sexually assaulting woman (Simone Mareuil), and a man (Pierre Batcheff) whose mouth is replaced by an armpit.
Un Chien Andalouis a revolutionary short movie, presenting shocking images and making bold statements of controversial like sexuality and religion. These images serve an answer to the fake values and moral of the modern bourgeoisie society. These disturbing shots, appearing on the screen one after another, cause confusion and frustration in the audience. The absence of a plot leaves the viewer with feeling like the movie is a representation of a dream, where scenes are changing every minute and things are constantly appearing and disappearing. Thus, the film could be possibly interpreted as an attempt to recreate the process of dreaming, using the limited possibilities of the cinema. Moreover, even though Bunuel states that the aim of the movie was to make no sense at all and that no rational explanation can be created from any of the images presented, psychoanalysis can help to shed more light into the dark, twisted mind of the film.
Themes of sexual desire can be found in the image of the hand crawling with ants, which is a metaphor of strong sexual desires. The moon from the opening scene is a metaphor of purity and virginity. Thus, the act of cutting of the woman’s eyeball by the man’s razor implies the motif of the rape and introduces the theme of sexuality that will be reintroduced further in the following scenes. According to psychoanalysis, the scene represents an act of castration. Furthermore, from a Freudian point of view, the scene is connected with the myth of Oedipus, where he blinds himself after he founds out what he has done.
The violent act against the woman can be seen as a reference to the psychoanalytical movie Secrets of a Soul, where in the opening scene a man is shaving his beard and unconsciously cuts his wife’s neck. Both movies have the motifs of punishment, sadism, and castration. However,Secrets of a Soulfollows an organized storyline, the plot shows how the main character used psychoanalysis to undergo the process of catharsis, and the audience can draw the line between dreams and reality.
One of the flaws of Un Chien Andalouis that it cannot be accepted as an accurate representation of a dream, but as an attempt of such. The reason is that dreams happen spontaneously, and most of the times are beyond the control of the dreamer, where in cinema even without following a written script, the actions taking place in front of the camera are planned in advance and thought through. Through the juxtaposition of action, music and story, the director successfully creates an atmosphere of suspense and horror, filled with almost unbearable images for the audience. Therefore, even though the Bunuel and Dali claim that there is no rational explanation of any of the scenes, and no meaning could be derived from it, the plot without a plot is well thought out to provoke and shock the audience.
Having in mind everything stated above, it could be concluded that is Un Chien Andaloua brilliant and revolutionary movie which purpose is to scandalize the society and challenge the known standards in the cinema production. No matter if one loves it or hates, one thing is sure – it will not leave the viewer emotionless.
Bread and Butter,
Eyes and Razors,
Nikol