Cet obscur objet du désir (1977)

(On TV, May 2022) In looking at legendary writer-director Luis Buñuel’s very long filmography, it looks as if his final film Cet obscur objet du désir was one of the last of his major titles that I hadn’t yet seen. I’m just glad I approached it with some knowledge of the rest of his work, because I’m not sure I would have known what to do with it had I seen it cold. After all, at face value, this is an absurdly odd romance between an older man and a volatile woman, played against a violent background of near-omnipresent terrorism. Interestingly enough, the female lead character is played by two actresses, often switching based on the mood of the character they represent. The script does have an interesting hook in that it features an older man (Fernando Rey, quite compelling) dumping a bucket of water on an unknown woman, then explaining to a small audience the reasons leading to such an outlandish gesture – much of the film that follows takes place in flashbacks, leading back to the water-dumping moment and going on from there. Theirs is not a fun or happy romance, with aggressive gestures from both parties punctuating multiple breakups. It’s all very off kilter, like Buñuel’s best movies. The cinematic technique is accessible (some colour cinematography giving a good period feel as the film travels from Seville to Paris) and the film remains compelling despite its intentional ambiguities and mysteries. Even the casual violence makes sense as a surrealist trope. It’s not my favourite Buñuel (that would remain Le charme discret de la bourgeoisie) but it’s well above most of his other films.