L'Âge d'or

One of Luis Buñuels masterpieces. Obscure, unpredictable, unashamed and full of hate against the bourgeoisie - just as we like him.

It's really hard to separate this from its historical context. On the one hand it's daring, provocative, sharp and funny and most of this holds up very well making it an enjoyable surreal experience. On the other hand all of its elements have been done better, including by Buñuel himself, making it hard to be wowed on anything but an intellectual level.

Very funny, very strange, very bold.

The best representation of the pain of having to make conversation when you and your significant other just want to go fuck.

There's some great stuff in here, but it drags too much in the beginning and shortens the ending down way too much. The ideas behind it are strong, but the execution leaves much to be desired.

I like it quite a bit, but it's a tough nut to crack. The only clear theme I can make out is that of sexual repression through the ages, mostly caused by religion. Where Un Chien Andalou only hinted at that theme, L'âge d'or is much more overt about it. All the outlandish images such as the scorpions, the cow on the couch, the stuff being thrown out the window and so on, may or may not mean anything. Most likely they're just intended to give off an air of, you know, surrealism.

It looks absolutely beautiful and is greatly directed. But it's too surreal for my taste and all the kicking against institutions Bunuel does, doesn't have the same impact nowadays anymore.

In his last creative collaboration with Dali, Buñuel boldly relays his negative feelings towards the Catholic Church, bourgeois society and contemporary attitudes towards sex, setting the tone for much of his later work. As surreal cinema goes, it's highly accessible: well-paced, occasionally funny and bursting with effective imagery.

This is not enjoyable, it plays as an artistic film in which a guy kicks a little puppy, attempts to rape a woman, shoots a little kid, slaps an elderly woman and throws a priest out of a window. I can understand why the film caused such a scandal upon its release. The true scandal is the poor judgement of all the film critics who have given this film such high regard.

has not aged well, at all. atrocious acting, irritating music, poor sound editing, and considerable over-exposure. it's got some interesting scenes and amusing moments for sure, but equally some that just didn't work for me and just came off as amateurish. the political commentary surrounding the government official was just silly. but yes, it did have some strange bits and captivating imagery, and that's what it's all about i suppose.

In which the murder of a child is successfully played for laughs, a cow is nonchalantly shooed from a bed, and various other insanity.

"The dream of a madman", as libido and provocation rule. A strange piece of mastery of its own wicked kind. Do not, please, take it seriously, in any way.

A fair amount of the symbolism is pretty straightforward juxtapositions of social caste and movement, crumbling of institutions and interrelational space. It can be considered as a summary of topics Bunuel will delve in the future far more maturely and successfully. Breathtaking photography for the period.

Blind man? *kick*

It has definite moments of greatness, but its final impression left on me was that of dull and slightly primitive filmmaking. I can appreciate this as a work of art but honestly it's not very enjoyable as a movie.

Not my favorite Bunuel, but all Bunuel's tropes are there, and its pacing and gags succeed Un Chien Andalou on every level. Just not as refined as most of his later efforts. God bless Bunuel.

"Pure Play has no rules, except this very law of liberty. It bloweth where it listeth. It has no purpose, unless recreation. The particular occupation I mean - a petite bouchée with the Universes - may take either the form of aesthetic contemplation, or that of distant castle-building (whether in Spain or within one's own moral training), or that of considering some wonder in one of the Universes, or some connection between two of the three, with speculation concerning its cause." - C.S. Peirce

More a social critique (or on subconscious sexual experience/aggression) than the dreamlike associations I was looking for. While there were certainly some interesting bits here and there, most of the scenes seemed to belong to a larger story that wasn't compelling enough and therefore felt too 'well-behaved'.

Proof, if nothing else, that surrealist cinema does not necessarily have to be all about frenzied montage; in some ways the pacing prefigures the post-war absurdist theater a bit. What it's driving at with all that sexual frustration, classist indifference, and official sanctimony is obvious enough, and it does have its memorable moments of lashing out, though I don't know that it always comes together as a fully effective hour.

While the surrealist imagery isn't quite as shocking as that found in Un chien andalou, this follow-up has a much more coherent and scandalizing message. The film unflinchingly communicates its revolutionary and iconoclastic point, to the point of alienating even its most adamant sympathizers.

Sometimes visually interesting, but I just don't get it. It's kind of interesting in that it seems captured in the time between silent and sound films. It's a sound film but much of it is played and acted like a silent film (title cards, no dialogue, etc.) Almost feels like they got access to sound devices 3/4ths of the way through filming. This might hit for some, but it's not for me. I think I might just be missing too much cultural or historical context.

83.00

Star Rating: ★★★★1/2

Ah yes, the classic French romantic comedy in which a foot-fetishist with an Electra complex falls in love with a man who attempts to rape a woman, kicks dogs, pushes a blind man over in order to get a taxi, murders children and slaps old women. I know there's a message here protesting against the sexual repression and social mores of the bourgeoisie and Catholic church, but there are much less stupid and problematic ways of expressing it.

Touches on many of the subjects Bunuel would use in his later films, utilizing the free association of Un Chien Andalou. I think he would use surrealism to greater effect later on, but I do especially like some of the reoccurring motifs throughout the film, like the focus on the woman's fingers, or that great sequence after they're "wrestling" in the mud.

http://youtu.be/lk7c_-cXJw4

Here is the first great film that begins with an essay on scorpions. I like L'Âge d'Or, and I am fascinated by the way in which its imagery of gamekeepers and orchestral conductors brings not just Tené Magritte, to mind, but many things in La Règle du Jeu. L'Âge d'Or may be a surreal classic, but I continue to find Un Chien Andalou more magical and expressive, and a greater clue to the traps and springboards in Surrealist film.

#106

Art enfants terribles, surrealists Buñuel and Dalí in all their gloriously funny and unsettling splendor. After the father opts to shoot his own child, this film had a friend in me fo' life, yo! Ahem. I liked it.

Not as good as An Andalusian Dog.

"L'Age d'Or: Where thwarted love must transcend itself in order to win its war against oppression." - Ed Gonzalez

curious and unique... But still... If you going to see only one surrealist-early cinema-masterpiece, go see "Un chien andalou"

Jesus.

A weaker effort from Bunuel. Not quite as charming or consistently funny as some of his other work, and despite its short length, it drags quite a bit.

102

I was surprised when some of the scenes shocked me.

wtf

90

Beautiful in every way.

Buñuel at his weakest: Some interesting imagery but mostly misanthropy.

# 89

While not nearly as brilliant as 'Un chien andalou', this is essential for connaisseurs of unique cinema as wells as, obviously, anyone interested in Surrealism.

Experiments with surrealism in cinema - exclusively for courses in history of cinema.

Maybe if I knew more of the history from that time period I'd appreciate this more.

Amazing. Nothing else like it before or since.

# 72