L' Âge d'Or (Age of Gold) (The Golden Age) poster & wallpaper
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Gaston Modot, Lya Lys, Max Ernst, Pierre Prevert, Lionel Salem ... see more see more... , Jose Artigas , Jacques B. Brunius , Cardinal de Lamberdesque , Paul Eluard

L'Âge d'Or begins as a documentary about the habits of scorpions, utilizing library footage and silent-style intertitles. Amid the rocks of an inlet, archbishops are seen chanting by a beggar-soldier ... read more read more...(Max Ernst), who then makes a long journey back to his hideout. He informs his fellow beggar-soldiers that the "Mallorcans" have arrived and it is time to bear arms and fight. But this small group of soldiers is weak and exhausted through starvation, and only one of them survives the trip back. The Mallorcans, a caravan of wealthy dignitaries and their servants, arrive to lay a cornerstone commemorating the now skeletal archbishops. The ceremony is interrupted by the screams of lovemaking, and the couple is separated by gendarmes and led away. The man (Gaston Modot), whom we later learn is a government official of some standing, establishes his nasty and anti-social character through the kicking a dog. The ceremony continues; a title card identifies this as the foundation of Imperial Rome. The next sequence intercuts scenes of the girl (Lya Lys), who is the daughter of a wealthy marquis, lost in a world of erotic fantasy, with scenes of the man being led down the street by the gendarmes. The man finally produces diplomatic papers, and is released. The marquis (Ibanez) and marquise (Germaine Noizet) throw a large party at their villa, where a number of strange events occur without the slightest notice from the guests. A momentary distraction is caused when the gamekeeper shoots his son over a minor incident. The government official arrives at the party and is soon in pursuit of the girl, although the social nature of the event, at first, keeps them apart. The marquise accidentally spills a little wine over the government official's hand, and he slaps her, exciting the girl. (Alfred Hitchcock would later echo this very scene in Strangers on a Train.) The girl and the government official are finally allowed to consummate their fetishistic desires to the strains of Wagner in an extended love scene in the garden. This is interrupted when the conductor (Duchange) of the concert nearby has a headache and walks off the podium, directly into the arms of the girl. The government official gets a phone call, where he is told that his actions have resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of the "women, children, and old people" he is sworn to protect. He curses the caller, and enraged, he goes to his apartment to rip apart pillows and to hurl several objects, including an archbishop, out the window. The final sequence begins with a series of lengthy, and increasingly agitated, intertitles announcing that the Duc de Blangis (Lionel Salem) and his henchmen are due to emerge from 120 days of debauchery inside a secluded castle. When the party does emerge, the duke is seen to be missing his beard. ~ David Lewis, Rovi

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81% liked it

5,504 ratings

Critics

91% liked it

23 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 2 min.

Directed by: Luis Buñuel

Release Date: November 1, 1979

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DVD Release Date: November 23, 2004

Stats: 249 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (249)

  • SirPant
    October 2, 2009
    SirPant
    A film of pure madness, surrealism and brilliance. I didn't enjoy it as much as its younger brother, Un Chien Andalou, but it has quite a few of my very favourite scenes in cinema within it. The guy who shoots himself and ends up on the ceiling is fantastic! As far as collaborati... read moreons go, it doesn't get much better than Dali & Bunuel!
  • rubystevens
    October 22, 2008
    rubystevens
    hilarious surrealist satire buñuel made with dali in 1930. of course they were completely mad and this film was banned for 50 years. highly recommended for fans of un chien andalou.
  • fb1619601747
    October 25, 2011
    fb1619601747
    So surreal, yet darkly humorous and entertaining, Salvador Dali achieves his goal of not making sense.
  • cacutshaw
    February 23, 2007
    cacutshaw
    Un Chien Andalou's closest kin, this is like a feature length version of that film. Excellent.
  • snobassman
    June 21, 2007
    snobassman
    An artist of any ilk owes it to themselves to see this film, if for no other reason than to say that they have, indeed, seen it.
  • heybarbara
    October 7, 2006
    heybarbara
    Like walking into Bunuel and Dalis' brains and going through the doors they have wide open- plenty of unforgettable moments.

View All L' Âge d'Or (Age of Gold) (The Golden Age) Reviews

Critic Reviews

Eugene Archer
May 8, 2004
Eugene Archer, New York Times

Mr. Buñuel and his co-scenarist, none other than Salvador Dali, have packed just about every-surrealist symbol they could think of into this rebellious epic. Full Review

J. Hoberman
January 27, 2004
J. Hoberman, Village Voice

Suggests instances of sex and violence far more extreme than any actually represented while contriving effronteries so offhanded you can't believe you've actually seen them. Full Review

Fernando F. Croce
July 21, 2010
Fernando F. Croce, CinePassion

Buñuel's furies rarely geysered more freely Full Review

Cole Smithey
October 13, 2007
Cole Smithey, ColeSmithey.com

Eat it up babies.

Donald J. Levit
July 16, 2007
Donald J. Levit, ReelTalk Movie Reviews

'L'Âge d'or' does exhibit its share of the incongruous or dangling, but nevertheless there is connective tissue. Full Review

Emanuel Levy
February 12, 2007
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

Co-scripted by Bunuel and Salvador Dali, this seminal work of cinema and masterpiece of surrealism is a scabrous anti-clerical anti-bourgeois tale hinting to the strong poential of film's two most con... Full Review

Daniel Eagan
January 26, 2005
Daniel Eagan, Film Journal International

Groundbreaking surrealist classic

Jeffrey M. Anderson
January 15, 2005
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid

Certainly this film will baffle, astound and infuriate all at once. Full Review

Jake Euker
December 22, 2004
Jake Euker, Filmcritic.com

an important historical document in the histories of film and art, a work of the rarest poetry Full Review

Phil Hall
December 8, 2004
Phil Hall, Film Threat

The surrealist landmark is still worthy of appreciation and admiration. Full Review

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