The Discreet Charm Of The Bourgeoisie (Le Charme Discret de la Bourgeoisie) poster & wallpaper
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Fernando Rey, Delphine Seyrig, Stéphane Audran, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Paul Frankeur ... see more see more... , Bulle Ogier , Francois Maistre , Claude Piéplu , Julien Bertheau , Milena Vukotic , Christian Baltauss , Jean Degrave , Anne Marie Descott , Georges Douking , Claude Jaeger , Robert Le Beal , Pierre Maguelon , Maxence Mailfort , Muni , Bernard Musson , Michel Piccoli , Jacques Rispal , Luis Buñuel , Sebastien Floche , Ellen Bahl , Pierre Lary , Amparo Soler Leal

In typical Luis Buñuel fashion, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie surrealistically skewers the conventions of society. Buñuel applies his surrealist touch to a mundane event: a dinner party that m... read more read more...ay never come to pass. A group of well-to-do friends attempt to gather for a social evening, but are thwarted at every turn. The initial problem seems to be a simple scheduling mistake, but the obstacles become more and more bizarre. At one point, the guests are interrupted at the table by an army on maneuvers. Later they learn that they are merely characters in a stage play and so cannot have dinner together. These misadventures are combined with symbolic dreams of the various characters, some of which also involve interrupted dinners. Wicked social satire and one of Buñuel's funniest films. Winner of the Academy Award for "Best Foreign Film" in 1972. ~ John Voorhees, Rovi

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39 critics

PG, 1 hr. 40 min.

Directed by: Luis Buñuel

Release Date: September 15, 1972

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DVD Release Date: December 19, 2000

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The Discreet Charm Of The Bourgeoisie Delphine Seyrig and Fernando Rey Stephane Audran in the Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie The Discreet Charm Of The Bourgeoisie (Le Charme Discret de la Bourgeoisie)
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Flixster Reviews (776)

  • flixsterman
    January 2, 2012
    flixsterman
    Luis Buñuel is an acquired taste that I sometimes have trouble acquiring. His films can be a little cryptic and transcendent (or confusing and pompous - depending on your point of reference). The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie is an exercise in precise meandering that... read more will either pull you along by your belt loops or leave you standing befuddled in its wake.
  • gokhale1
    November 29, 2011
    gokhale1
    The master of surrealism, Luis Bunuel was about 72 when he made this fantastic film, "The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie". It is literally a wet "dream" come true for all those film buffs who like their movies full of oneiric imagery with random occurrences that, although set ... read morein a real world, do not make much sense!

    [img]https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-QPuPIvZ0suA/TtTp7_KJOjI/AAAAAAAACG4/jONi9T9T_P8/s576/vlcsnap-2011-11-29-19h40m48s112.jpg[/img]

    It must be clear enough now, that there is no single plot to make this film a whole. Rather it is a collection of confounding events in the life of six central characters of the bourgeois class, including two married couples, who happen to be friends. Most events revolve around their repeatedly thwarted attempts to sit down to have a leisurely meal together! The world in Bunuel's film, although real, isn't very logical either. Several seemingly bizarre events are accepted as "normal" with a rather straight face by the characters, which adds to the many qualities of Bunuel's surreal vision.

    [img]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-iy4TR3jgzwk/TtTp7kgoObI/AAAAAAAACG8/5RacvLEya4M/s576/vlcsnap-2011-11-29-19h37m44s66.jpg[/img]

    Relating some of the strangest and best events in the film in this review will do disservice to the first time viewer, but assuming that a mention of a couple of other events will only entice the reader to watch the film, instead of spoiling the fun, I think I can safely mention them. The group of the aforementioned six people are walking down a long stretch of an open road on a sunny day. This scene is repeated throughout the film and randomly interspersed with other events in the film. Then in one scene, the three ladies of the group sit down in a restaurant to have some tea. The waiter later comes and tells them that it is unavailable. The cycle continues, as later, no matter what they order, the waiter comes back after a few minutes and informs them that they are "out of it". In the midst of this, a complete stranger, a sad-looking Lieutenant in a uniform, comes to their table, relates a ghostly tale from his childhood and walks away. The ladies don't seem to be express much disbelief upon hearing the odd tale either!

    [img]https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-PH3Xb8Gnc8k/TtTp76XJzmI/AAAAAAAACHM/iYIIH22RHvE/s576/vlcsnap-2011-11-29-19h41m04s14.jpg[/img]

    Suffice to say, that this is one of Luis Bunuel's best films in which he puts together such amazing episodes that will make you smile in disbelief! The episodes are sometimes disturbing, yet most of the times they are comic. But the comedy comes from the general irrationality of it all; the events are not "funny" in the conventional sense. The stranger it gets, the better it gets, and there is literally no end, as Bunuel subjects the audience to one great scene after other, some laced with wry humour, and some others revealing the hypocrisy of the bourgeois. Fine performances come from almost all of the cast, in which their behavior reflects the eccentricity of the event at hand! They don't really act normal or rational! Some scenes are ultimately revealed to be dreams, but there are yet others which are still off-the-wall yet not revealed to be either dream or reality. If nothing else this film will reveal Bunuel's wide range of imagination where the surrealism doesn't go wild all the way into another world (like in some Terry Gilliam films). Bunuel shows that twisting some reality in the real world can be just as weird and an even better experience than the outlandish, unrealistic universe in which some other filmmakers set their films.

    Luis Bunuel accomplished at 72 what most other young filmmakers still struggle to do. He made a perfect film for us hungry viewers who seek unconventional cinema! And yet at the same time, Bunuel seems to be having fun himself by subjecting us audiences to his spectacular imagination and having a good laugh at our perplexity. The Academy Award was well-deserved. The jury must have had a ball and handed over the trophy without further thought.

    Go for it! Super fun and a good mind-fuck is guaranteed!


    Score: 10/10
  • FrizzDrop
    January 31, 2011
    FrizzDrop
    The mere title of this satiric view of the upper crust spells out Luis Bunuels surrealistic take on the subject of the rich and particularly petty: the bourgeoisie. Supplementing an interesting cast with a cynical stance, Bunuel spices up the tragic circumstances of lust, greed, ... read moreand sloth with gorey and/or unobtrusive dreams which are basic human fears and people's undoing. Eclectic, but not particularly funny, it's not only a piece of art, but a interest propaganda film on what's acceptable in our society.
  • blacksheepboy
    November 2, 2010
    blacksheepboy
    A surrealistic comedy of discreet humor, you will hardly laugh but mostly feel embarrassed for all the petty bourgeois characters. Once again, Buñuel smartly plays with his film's structure, this time casting a slyly provocative, cynical view on society.
  • bottcorecords1
    April 17, 2009
    bottcorecords1
    Combine the surrealism of David Lynch with the absurdism of Monty Python, and you get an approximation of this movie. There isn't really a plot here, but some things happen, which I will describe to the best of my ability. The ambassador from the country of Miranda attempts to ... read moreenjoy a dinner with friends, but there always seems to be some interruption to keep them from enjoying their meal. The ambassador also happens to be a drug smuggler, and is in constant threat of assassination by guerillas from Miranda. Meanwhile, the Bishop comes round to the friends' house and announces he'd like to be their gardener. A soldier stops the women in a little cafe (where they've run out of everything but water), to tell the story of how he murdered his stepfather, and then walks away. The last third of the movie seems to be a series of dream sequences, where each of the party guests dreams of murders and arrests. Apart from a few vignettes, the movie isn't very interesting (and I really hate to oversell the surrealism, which doesn't show up really until the last third of the movie), and neither are the performances. It's only memorable in that it will someday vex you to try and remember the title of "that one weird french movie".
  • kenstachnik
    April 28, 2008
    kenstachnik
    Fascinating, sometimes infuriating but always surreal masterwork by Bunuel.
  • pier007
    September 19, 2007
    pier007
    Buñuel sets a bizarre and hilarious surreal black comedy about a bunch of decadent living deads. as usual, full of surprises from start to finish.
  • tsigur
    July 18, 2007
    tsigur
    I don't get it.....at all....any of it!
  • webalina
    July 18, 2007
    webalina
    This is my 3rd Luis Bunuel film in as many months, after Viridiana and Exterminating Angel, and I'm lost as a goose. Am I missing something? I keep expecting these films to wrap things up at the end, not necessarily normally but with some kind of closure. But all these seem like ... read morethey ended because Bunuel just ran out of film and said "OK. That's good enough." I keep feeling like I fell asleep during the film and woke up just before the end. I keep reading that these films are hilarious. I don't find scenes of ghosts and revenge killings and bloodied bodies particularly mirthful. Can somebody help me "get it"?
  • ebs90
    June 19, 2007
    ebs90
    Not even nearly as good as The Exterminating Angel, but still impossible to miss! And yes, it won an Oscar, but that doesn't discredit it (although it must have bothered Bunuel, I'm sure). Sr. Bunuel presents us with totally despicable characters in odd situations, torturing the ... read moreheck out of them. It's a joy to watch -the absurdity, the hypocrisy, the drama, all the things he disliked of the alleged bourgeoisie are here ridiculed. All performances are just right, especially Fernando Rey and Delphine Seyrig. The dialogue is, naturally, razor-blade sharp and good enough by itself. Many scenes hold a great resemblance to theatrical montages, considering also that they mostly take place around a dinner table. Bunuel also incorporated dream sequences and bits of non-linear narrative by the end to enhance the characters' paranoia. This is the story of a group of friends who are doomed to never have a pleasant meal.

View All The Discreet Charm Of The Bourgeoisie (Le Charme Discret de la Bourgeoisie) Reviews

Critic Reviews

Jonathan Rosenbaum
April 20, 2009
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader

Luis Buñuel's 1972 comic masterpiece, about three well-to-do couples who try and fail to have a meal together, is perhaps the most perfectly achieved and executed of all his late French films. Full Review

Variety Staff
December 4, 2008
Variety Staff, Variety

Luis Bunuel adds another fine film to his solid record with this surrealistically oriented tale of so-called bourgeois types. Full Review

Peter Rainer
January 16, 2003
Peter Rainer, New York Magazine

Take a look again at its dream sequences, especially the nocturnal one involving the young man in the side street, and you will see a master disturber still at work. Full Review

Gary Dowell
January 24, 2002
Gary Dowell, Dallas Morning News

An absurdly comic assault on the meaningless social rituals and polite hypocrisies of the upper middle class. Full Review

Roger Ebert
January 1, 2000
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Most of the films of Luis Bunuel are comedies in one way or another, but he doesn't go for gags and punch lines; his comedy is more like a dig in the ribs, sly and painful. Full Review

Joe Baltake
January 1, 2000
Joe Baltake, Sacramento Bee

Although it doesn't hold up as much as you'd like it to, I liked its sense of scattered independence. Full Review

A.O. Scott
January 1, 2000
A.O. Scott, New York Times

It combines a masterful command of the medium with a mischievous, anarchic sense of imaginative freedom.

J. Hoberman
January 1, 2000
J. Hoberman, Village Voice

Boasts one of the best titles in movie history and a cast to match. Full Review

Owen Gleiberman
January 1, 2000
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly

For about 45 minutes, it's actually rather droll. Full Review

Charles Taylor
January 1, 2000
Charles Taylor, Salon.com

This has to be one of the most completely realized comedies ever made, and, in its odd way, one of the most civilized. Full Review

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