Example essay discussing how cinematography/editing is used to challenge narrative convention in surrealist film.
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Course
Film History
Institution
OCR
With reference to examples from both experimental surrealist films you have studied, explain how cinematography and editing have been used to challenge conventional narratives. Un Chien Andalou and L'age D'or referenced by Luis Brunel, and Salvador Dali.
With reference to examples from both experimental surrealist films you have studied, explain how
cinematography and editing have been used to challenge conventional narratives.
Luis Bunuel’s philosophy of filmmaking was that if any sequence of his film could resemble any
rational cause and effect mechanism it was to be cut from the film. In doing so he ensured that his
‘narrative’ would be anything but conventional. Two ways in which he challenged conventional
narratives is through editing and cinematography.
One way Bunuel challenged mainstream narrative is his supposed use of title cards. The title cards in
Un Chien Andalou give the illusion of time and narrative for instance, the intertitle ‘sixteen years
later’ suggests a flashback but the following image presents the same actors in the same location.
This disorientates the audience as it goes against audience expectations and defies traditional linear
narrative. Another example of this (also in Un Chien Andalou) is the intertitle ‘in the spring’. The
connotations it bears are one of rebirth and renewal but instead Bunuel presents to the audience an
image of disintegration and death. This use of editing and sequencing challenges viewers
perceptions of reality and the subconscious – a central theme to surrealist films.
Bunuel also uses cinematography to challenge the conventions of narrative. He combines his fetish
for hands and feet with his use of close-ups. For example, in L’Age D’Or, Bunuel has a large focus on
toes and thereby proceeds to introduce a character who is interested in feet. There is a shot of a
man rubbing his feet on a lady’s face – which she seems to relish in – once the man exits, the lady
sucks the toes of a statue nearby. Not only does this not have any rational meaning, these close up
shots also accentuate the shocking nature of these surrealist images. This challenges conventional
narrative as it has a far larger emphasis on the aesthetic of Bunuel’s fetish than the actual narrative
(which isn’t there to begin with), unlike traditional narrative that places story over aesthetics.
Lastly, Bunuel uses traditional continuity editing techniques which are then disrupted by surreal
images. This technique tricks audiences to try to find the meaning that doesn’t exist. Most obviously,
the eye slicing scene that opens Un Chien Andalou is a good example. As afterwards, the actor
appears to have no evidence of a physical impairment. It also becomes clear that the image of the
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