Surrealism question responses

Surrealism question responses

 

How did Andre Breton’s early experiences of cinema influence surrealist film making?

·        Introduce Surrealism

·        Introduce Andre Breton

·        Say what Andre Breton’s early experience of cinema were (Communal experiences, sense of surrealism sitting in dark room with strangers)

·        Explain how these experiences influence surrealist film making (Keep the audience thinking and wanting to stay and watch)

The surrealist ideals to shine a light on bourgeois sensibility and taste were compromised by the financing of U Chien Adalou and L'Age D'Or. To what extent do you agree?

·        Say how the two films were funded (Sponsorship).

·        Films were supposed to show the class difference in France on low budget but being sponsor funded they were going against the motives of making Un Chien Andalou and L’Age D’Or.

Why were the surrealists fascinated by cinema?

·        It was a chance to see film in a communal sense and thought the dark room where it was viewed was fascinating

The surrealists were modernist by nature. To what extent do you agree?

·        All themes and sets in the films are relative to the times in which the films were created. Not much of the footage represents themes which happened prior to the times of the filming.

List examples of sexual repression/frustration in L'Age D'Or

·        Hallucinations of legs on the billboard when he is being carried to the police station.

·        Sucking the toe of the statue

·        Stalling in the two characters meeting each other in the party scene

What is the Oedipus Complex? Where does it feature in L'Age D'Or?

·        In psychoanalytic theory, the term Oedipus complex denotes the emotions and ideas that the mind keeps in the unconscious, via dynamic repression, that concentrate upon a child's desire to sexually possess his/her mother.

Bunuel mocks religious figures and religious artefacts in his films. To what extent do you agree?

·        The Majorcans are left as skeletons in L’Age D’Or

·        Another one is thrown out of the window along with giraffes and a tree branch on fire.

Do the two films still have the power to shock? Explain your answer.

·        They don’t have the power to shock anymore because of the themes and issues dealt with in the films. These have little or no relation to modern days which wouldn’t give them the power to shock nowadays audiences.

What impact did slap stick and burlesque have on Bunuel?

·        Bunuel used both slap stick and burlesque elements in both films resembling Charlie Chaplin. Although the slap stick is not majorly used, it has small appearances in both Un Chien Andalou and L’Age D’Or.