The Films of Luis Buñuel: Subjectivity and Desire (Oxford Hispanic Studies)

This is a major new study of the films of Luis Bunuel, surrealist scourge of the bourgeosie and enduring influence on European cinema. The book is unique in offering an extended analysis of Bunuel's films in the context of contemporary debates in film studies, focusing in particular on questions of subjectivity and desire. Throughout, Bunuel's films are viewed as both the brilliant, subversive expressions of the director's fantasies and obsessions and as reflections of wider cultural norms and preoccupations. Making use of psychoanalysis and gender theory, Peter Evans explores Bunuel's characteristic thematics of transgression and his status as exile of outsider. The whole range of his work is discussed, from the critically neglected "bread and butter" Mexican melodramas of the 1950s to such classics of European cinema as The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, That Obscure Object of Desire, and Belle de Jour. Accessible, lively, and compelling, The Films of Luis Bunuel provides a much-needed revaluation of one of the world's greatest film-makers.