Luis Bunuel 2-Disc Collector's Edition (1961)

In Peter Greenaway's 8-1/2 Women (1999) a woman's death propels a bereaved widower and his son into carnal questing via a harem of idiosyncratic ladies. Similarly 1985's A Zed and Two Noughts follows the Deuce brothers zoologists and former Siamese twins who lose their wives in a bizarre collision--a great swan crashes into a car driven down Swann's Way by one Alba Bewick (translates as "white swan"). The brothers become obsessed with photographing and measuring decay ("by degrees of grief") from Apple to Zebra and equally obsessed with voluptuous Alba who having lost one leg in the wreck later has the other removed... perhaps for the sake of symmetry. Greenaway's funny gruesome gorgeous "zoo" also features hooker Venus di Milo arbiter of the monetary value of everything; an amputation-happy surgeon who'd like to make Alba fit into a Vermeer painting; a sinister Phantom of the Zoo who offs black-and-white animals; and other assorted often twinned exotics.System Requirements:Running Time: 115 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: NR UPC: 031398217619 Manufacturer No: 21761 Product Description

Leaves a lasting impression

Big fan of Bunuel, got the DVD's, Grand Casino two stars, the Young one, five stars. I was surprised by how fresh it felt even though it's close to fifty years old. Worth having in your DVD library just for the young one alone. March 29, 2008

neglected Bunuel

First off, AMAZON, it's THE YOUNG ONE, not THE YOUNG ONES.

I tried to watch GRAN CASINO first. The discs were mislabeled, so I got to see THE YOUNG ONE instead. The mislabeling of discs in a premium "collector's edition" was surprising. Thankfully, the prints and commentaries were all good.

THE YOUNG ONE is set on a island populated by a white game warden and a 13 year old orphan girl in his care. A black musician is accused of rape by a crazy white drunken dowager, and flees a lynch mob in a boat. Guess which island he washes up on. Did I mention that this film is provocative? Way before it's time, the film died at the box office upon release in 1961. The few audiences, black and white, that saw the film back then expressed a desire to lynch Bunuel.

The black fugitive and white warden play hide and seek around the island. We see the orphan's naked legs. The warden rapes the orphan. The fugitive and warden threaten each other with guns and grenades. We see the orphan's naked feet. A hypocritical reverend and a racist boatman come to the island to baptize the orphan. This is about where I starting losing track of who was supposed to be the good guys and bad guys. Adding to the moral ambiguity, the orphan doesn't seem to see herself as a victim, dissembling when the suspicious reverend asks what's going on.

Filmed in English in glorious black and white, THE YOUNG ONE is a long unavailable gem that easily justifies the cost of the package.

GRAN CASINO is in Spanish with English subtitles. The film is a semi-musical vehicle for some Mexican stars of the day. The stars do lots of singing and dancing *YAWN*. There's a dash of social commentary with the titular lavish casino contrasted with the oil field that supplies the wealth, but nothing close to the whallop of THE YOUNG ONE.

The high rating is on the basis of THE YOUNG ONE, which has previously only been available in foreign formats for about $30. GRAN CASINO is pure fluff and an ill fit in the package. It begs the question why Bunuel's other English film, ROBINSON CRUSOE, wasn't bundled instead.



January 16, 2008

Two absolutely wonderful movies

For a long time I thought Luis Buñuel was an arty, removed kind of director. Thanks to DVDs like the ones in this edition it slowly dawns on me that he was extremely prolific and was also adept at tackling different genres. Gran Casino is a kind of a melodrama with humor and songs - it reminded me of Hollywood movies of the 1930s. A lot of the action takes place in the night club cum casino. There is a very long take of a singer who descends the stage, making her way through the audience along the periphery of the room and back to the stage, all the time singing, while the camera performs a 360 degree turn - it's very neat. The main character is a singer from Argentina, she performs a few of the best known tangos accompanied by a moody but competent pianist. There even is a tiny surrealist element: one dance number is performed with the dancers clutching tiny electrical torches which are absolutely out of place and do not seem to belong to the period the movie is set in. With those torches they pick out members of the audience.
The Young Ones is a very beautifully filmed drama in English concerning the coming of age of a girl in a very removed place. The girl reminded me a little of the movie Nell. An African American who has to run from an enraged mob seems to be the first real contact with the outside world. He is a clarinetist, music is an important item of this movie. The way nature is depicted reminded me of movies by Jean Renoir, it's almost like a painting.
I spent a marvellous time with these two movies. December 18, 2007

more sleight of hand from a master

In truth I have recently viewed only the second film, but The Young One, on it's own, is surely worthy of discussion. At first glance it could be mistaken for some early 60's derivation of a Tennessee Williams potboiler. Something begging to be Baby Doll meets The World, the Flesh and the Devil.

The story enfolds in a manner that seems to match expectation, and yet maintains a subtle innovation. And it is at this point where the low budget drama turns into yet another unique arrow from Bunuel's incomparable quiver. For as we become prepared to witness a denouement that satisfies our prejudices, he slays us yet again, not with overt surrealism, but with simple grace, that leaves a much greater impression.

I definitely left this film much more satisfied than what I expected from the opening credits. October 26, 2007

One is a 2 star the other a 5 star and the dvd's a 2 so we get a 3

First of all the cover of the dvd, (at least mine) does not look this cool. It is a cheezy cheap cover with a still from each film inside a film strip design. Secondly, Gran Casino is more than likely a studio project accepted by a hungry Bunuel. It's a musical (which none of the reviews above mention). Unlike many musicals the music doesn't really forward the storyline and is just kind of a showcase for the artists perfroming the music. If the film didn't have this it would showcase the suprisingly intresting storyline it has. Albeit it's better the music doesn't forward the story because they didn't subtitle the songs. The best part of the dvd is The Young One, one of two Bunuel films in english (above they said only one but he also directed Robinson Crusoe). A riveting story, beautifully shot and edited, 5 stars hands down. Best part of this dvd set and worth every penny. September 9, 2007

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