The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie

The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
Theatrical release poster
FrenchLe Charme discret de la bourgeoisie
Directed byLuis Buñuel
Written byLuis Buñuel
Jean-Claude Carrière
Produced bySerge Silberman
Starring
CinematographyEdmond Richard
Edited byHélène Plemiannikov [de; fr]
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Release dates
  • 15 September 1972 (1972-09-15) (France)
  • 13 April 1973 (1973-04-13) (Italy)
  • 21 April 1973 (1973-04-21) (Spain)
Running time
101 minutes
Countries
  • France
  • Italy
  • Spain
Languages
  • French
  • Italian
  • Spanish
Budget$800,000
Box office$286,916[1]

The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (French: Le Charme discret de la bourgeoisie) is a 1972 French-language surrealist black comedy film directed by Luis Buñuel and co-written by Buñuel and Jean-Claude Carrière.[2] The narrative concerns a group of French bourgeoisie and the fictional South American country of Miranda's ambassador to France attempting—despite continual interruptions—to dine together. The film stars Fernando Rey, Stéphane Audran, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Paul Frankeur, Delphine Seyrig, Bulle Ogier, Julien Bertheau, and Milena Vukotic.

The film consists of several thematically linked scenes: five gatherings of a group of bourgeois friends, and the four dreams of different characters. The beginning of the film focuses on the gatherings, while the latter part focuses on the dreams, but both are intertwined. There are also scenes involving other characters, including two in which a Maoist terrorist from Miranda attempts to assassinate the ambassador. The film's world is not logical, and the bizarre events are accepted by the characters.

The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie was a critical and commercial success. It won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and BAFTA Awards for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Audran) and Best Original Screenplay (Buñuel and Carrière).[3]

  1. ^ "The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie". The Numbers. Nash Information Services, LLC. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  2. ^ The Scarecrow Video Movie Guide. Seattle: Sasquatch Books. 2004. p. 32. ISBN 978-1-57-061415-6.
  3. ^ "The 45th Academy Awards (1973) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Archived from the original on 7 July 2022. Retrieved 30 November 2011.