My Last Sigh
July 08, 2006
"My Last Sigh" by Luis Bunuel
Hardcover, Jonathan Cape edition 1985
Bunuel was one of the great filmmakers of the twentieth century, a surrealist and a satirist who in his many films took on an increasingly astounding number of hypocrisies. His work contained some of the most vivid and surprising images in film history, and his set-ups were often pure genius. This autobiography deals less with the films (except incidentally) than it does with Bunuel's long and interesting life, from his childhood in an isolated part of Spain, to his friendship with Federico Garcia Lorca and Salvador Dali, his time working as a propagandist against the fascists during the Spanish Civil War and his many immigrations to different countries while trying to get his films made. Bunuel is an engaging storyteller (helped along by his friend and screenwriting collaborator Jean-Claude Carriere) and the bio is an informative study of his life. While certain digressions on martinis, cigarettes and Bunuel's other favorite habits add some color, they probably could have been exercised in favor of more commentary on the films themselves, which is the primary reason anyone would want to read this book.
[ Back to Review-o-Matic menu ]
This page is part of www.zombieunderground.net. If you're not seeing a menu on the left, please click here to reload.
Everything on this site is the © author (please see the "About" section).