The first and most acclaimed of the, fortunately few, surrealist feature films. It was made as a follow up to Buñuel and Dali's Un Chien Andalou, however they fell out during production so it is mostly accredited to Buñuel.
Being surreal, it focuses on dreamlike sequences and only shows the absurd rather than the real. Even so, like a dream, there are a couple of common threads running through the film. The surrealist notion of l'amour fou (mad love) is shown between a pair of lovers who can't seem to find time to get it on.
The other thread is a theme of extreme violence and cruelty, mostly to women and children and even now, quite shocking. A man slapping a lady for spilling a drop of wine on him, the same man pushing a blind man to the ground for a laugh and another man shooting a child for jokingly knocking his cigarette out of his hand. No wonder it was banned for 50 years following it's first public showings.
The absurdism prevails in the film from start to finish. I'm not sure it's supposed to be understood and nor do I care. Understanding madness is not a healthy pastime!
A cow in a bed. One of many absurdities.
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