Un Chien Andalou (1929) illustrates what Breton terms ‘the omnipotence of the dream’.
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Course
FS2007 : Visualising Modernity (FS2007)
Institution
The University Of Aberdeen (Aberd)
In his first surrealist manifesto from 1924, Breton writes: “Surrealism is based on the belief in the superior reality of certain forms of association heretofore neglected, in the omnipotence of the dream, and in the disinterested play of thought”. The omnipotence of the dream is, in essence, ...
Student ID: 51983617
13/11/2020
Tutor: Dr. Alan Macpherson
Course Code: FS2007: Visualising Modernity
3. Focusing on TWO scenes from the respective film, analyse in what ways The Cabinet
of Dr Caligari (1920) OR Un Chien Andalou (1929) illustrates what Breton (1978
[1924]: 72) terms ‘the omnipotence of the dream’.
In his first surrealist manifesto from 1924, Breton writes: “Surrealism is based on the belief
in the superior reality of certain forms of association heretofore neglected, in the omnipotence
of the dream, and in the disinterested play of thought”1. The omnipotence of the dream is, in
essence, the immense power of the dream and the dreamer, as well as the superiority of the
dream over reality. It is precisely such omnipotent subconscious forces and dream images
Luis Bunuel and Salvador Dali have managed to capture and display in their film and
dreamscape: Un Chien Andalou from 1929. Through the examination of two scenes from Un
Chien Andalou ( 00:59 - 01:41 + 14:00 - 14:29), this essay will look at how Bunuel and
Dali’s film illustrates the omnipotence of the dream. I propose that the omnipotence of the
dream is represented by the disjunctive narrative order, the manipulation of time and space,
the eradication of social morals, the modifications of the body, the power of the characters
within the dream/film and the omnipotent power-relations present in the film.
1 Breton, A. ‘First Surrealist Manifesto’. In Surrealism, ed. by Waldberg, P. (New York;
Oxford: Oxford Uni Press,1978), 66- 72, p. 72
1
, Student ID: 51983617
13/11/2020
Tutor: Dr. Alan Macpherson
Course Code: FS2007: Visualising Modernity
2
3
The film’s first intertitle reads: “Once Upon a Time”, it acts as a narrative signpost
and falsely leads the audience to believe that a sequential, chronological narrative order is at
2 Un Chien Andalou. Dir. Luis Bunuel, Les Grands Films Classiques, 1929, (00:58)
3 Un Chien Andalou. Dir. Luis Bunuel, Les Grands Films Classiques, 1929, (01:30)
2
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