That Obscure Object of Desire (Cet obscur objet du desir)
Directed by Luis Buñuel
Written by Louis Buñuel and Jean-Claude Carriere inspired by a book by Pierre Loouys
1977/France/Spain
IMDb page
First viewing/Amazon Prime rental
Conchita: I belong to no one but myself, and I’ll stay my own.
Luis Buñuel’s last film and one of his very best. This is the one where the object of desire is played by two different actresses, both of whom tease Fernando Rey beyond the limits of endurance.
As the story begins, Mathieu (Fernando Rey) is in Sevilla arranging a train home to Paris. Soon thereafter, Conchita (Carole Bouquet) attempts to board and Mathieu dumps a bucket of water on her head. The events leading up to this unusual event are related in a flashback as told by Mathieu to the passengers in his first-class compartment.
Conchita first catches Mathieu’s eye after she has been hired to work for him as a maid. He immediately suspects this is something she has never done before. He is overtaken by lust for the young beauty and tries to lure her with presents and hand outs to her mother. She starts living with him but covers her nether regions with an impenetrable corset. Eventually she leaves him but they continually run into each other throughout the story.
Mathieu follows Conchita (Angela Molina) to Seville where she is working as a flamenco dancer – one who gives private nude dance performances to tourists in a back room. The pair make up. Conchita says her one wish is for a little house of her very own. There she will be able to give herself to Mathieu. It doesn’t quite work out that way, hence the bucket of water. Bouquet and Molina change places constantly throughout the film.
Frustration of desire is one of Buñuel’s eternal themes and it is portrayed beautifully and comically here. The screenplay pays homage to feminism, revolution, terrorism, mid-life crisis, the bourgoisie, flirtation, and machismo. It is also filled with hilarious, if black, humor. I love this movie and cannot understand why it is not on the List.
Sad to say goodbye to someone who has been on this journey since 1929. What a career!
Fan-made trailer
