The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie

1972 1h 41m FR

👍

7.4

SOLID

★7.4TMDB · 948

Comedy

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

In Luis Buñuel’s deliciously satiric masterpiece, an upper-class sextet sits down to dinner but never eats, their attempts continually thwarted by a vaudevillian mixture of events both actual and imagined.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Cast

Fernando Rey
Don Rafael
Delphine Seyrig
Simone Thévenot
Paul Frankeur
François Thévenot
Stéphane Audran
Alice Sénéchal
Bulle Ogier
Florence
Jean-Pierre Cassel
Henri Sénéchal
Julien Bertheau
Monsignor Dufour
Claude Piéplu
Colonel

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Luis Buñuel
Writers: Luis Buñuel, Jean-Claude Carrière
Languages: French, Spanish
Countries: France

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $0.8M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 13% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

54 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: French, Spanish.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Luis Buñuel, shot by Edmond Richard. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Hélène Plemiannikov shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Fernando Rey and Delphine Seyrig and Paul Frankeur carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0068361 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Luis Buñuel directs. Edmond Richard behind the camera. Hélène Plemiannikov cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in France. Dialogue in French, Spanish.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $0.8M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
2Earned back only 13% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
354 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
4Dialogue crosses 2 languages: French, Spanish.
5Directed by Luis Buñuel, shot by Edmond Richard. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Editor Hélène Plemiannikov shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Fernando Rey and Delphine Seyrig and Paul Frankeur carry the top of the cast.
8IMDB entry: tt0068361 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 23 themes, including "diplomat", "dreams", "nightmare", "upper class".

The technical file

Cinematography: Edmond Richard
Editing: Hélène Plemiannikov
Production design: Pierre Guffroy
Costume design: Jacqueline Guyot
Makeup / hair: Odette Berroyer
Runtime: 101 min · 1h 41m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $800,000
Box office: $103,230
Return: 13% of budget
Original language: FR
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972)

Awards

Academy Award for Best International Feature Film

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Luis Buñuel

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Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

talisencrw2016-08-15
★ 10/10
This came in the outstanding 10-DVD boxed set 'Rialto Pictures: 10 Years', one of the finest things I've bought from The Criterion Collection (and a great deal too, one I'd heartily endorse). I had to wait an entire day, after watching the dreadful 'Disaster Movie', to get the acrid taste out of my mouth to watch this one, by my fourth favourite director ever ('Viridiana' is still probably my favourite of his, though). Luckily it had three of my favourite French actors from the period, in Bulle Ogier (just check out 'Maitresse' if you don't understand why), Delphine Seyrig and Fernando Rey (for the two 'French Connection' films alone)--even though for a director of Bunuel's strength, any actors could have sufficed. It's the ideas that stand out most triumphantly. It's most known for being Bunuel's Oscar-winner for Best Foreign Language Film, but its OTHER nomination is what's almost neglected when people talk about him. Yes, they talk about Bunuel the director, or (from David Thomson) Bunuel the photographer, but people never realize his two nominations for the Calanda, Spain-native were never for director, but for writing (with another nod for his swan song, 'The Obscure Object of Desire').
CinemaSerf2022-09-19
★ 7/10
It's quite a difficult film to review this, as it essentially has no real plot and very little structure. It is a series of dream sequences following a group of friends - each with some form of skeleton in their closet - as they try to meet for a dinner that repeatedly gets aborted. Fernando Rey is on good form as the Ambassador from the Republic of "Miranda" - a man living in fear for his life from revolutionaries at home, and who is also not averse to adding a little spice to the contents of the diplomatic bag. Jean-Pierre Cassel and Stéphane Audran are the "Sénéchal" couple - they like a bit of al fresco nookie; the "Thévenot" couple (Delphine Seyrig and Paul Frankeur) are ostensibly the most normal of the group, though the latter has a bit going on the side with "Florence" (Bulle Ogier). We are never quite sure why they are friends at all, but none of that really matters. It is the very unstructured nature of this that makes it work. Each of their dreams offers us a different - sometimes amusing, sometimes rather violent - short story as the group try to sit down to eat. Personally, I was rather fond of the gardening Bishop "Dufour" (Julien Bertheau) who seems to flit between his religious and gardening garb as if by magic. The dialogue isn't maybe the best, but the scenarios and a lot of imagination from director Luis Buñuel combine to offer us something that is quirky and entertaining. It doesn't really need a cinema screening - the production and photography are fine but really this is all about some whacky characterisations that don't always make sense, but do engage.