SPANISH 491/COMPARATIVE LITERATURE 497

The Liberating Eye: The Cinema of Luis Buñuel

Fall 2001, 271 Mary Gates Hall
Tuesday & Thursday 1:30-3:20

Cynthia Steele (cynthias@u.washington.edu), C101 Padleford, TTh 10:30-12:30 by appointment only (phone Leona Phillips at 543-2020 to make appointment).
and
Steven Shaviro (shaviro@shaviro.com), A303 Padleford, T & Th 12:00-1:00

This course examines how Spanish director Luis Buñuel created meaning in films from three phases of his career: the early surrealist period of the 1920s, the Mexican melodrama of the 1950s and 1960s, and the late Spanish and French films. Themes include the relationship between social convention and human liberty, and sexual politics in biography and art. Weekly screenings of films by Luis Buñuel on Tuesdays; lecture and discussion on Thursdays.

In addition, a one-day symposium on the films of Luis Buñuel takes place on Saturday, November 10. Four prominent critics--Peter Evans (U of London), Jean Franco (Columbia), Marsha Kinder (USC), and Kathleen Murphy (Cinema Seattle)--will deliver conference papers on various aspects of Buñuel's films. In conjunction with the conference, two additional Buñuel films will be screened at the Grand Illusion during the week of November 9-15, and film critic Richard T. Jameson will give a talk as part of the Talking Pictures series sponsored by Cinema Seattle.

Students will write two five-to-seven-page analytical essays, plus a short critique of one of the conference papers.

1.October 2 & 4
Un chien andalou (1929) and Las Hurdes [Land without Bread] (1932)

Peter William Evans, "Introduction," The Films of Luis Buñuel: Subjectivity and Desire, pp. 1-12.
Marsha Kinder, "The Nomadic Discourse of Luis Buñuel: A Rambling Overview," in Kinder, pp. 1-27.
Luis Buñuel, "Un chien andalou," in An Unspeakable Betrayal, pp. 162-169.
Jose de la Colina & Tomas Perez Turrent, Objects of Desire: Conversations with Luis Buñuel, pp. 15-20 and 29-36.

2.October 9 & 11
Los olvidados [The Young and the Damned] (1950)

Baxter, pp. 1-214
Peter William Evans, "Family Romances: Buñuel's Mexican Melodramas," and "Los olvidados and the Uncanny," in The Films, pp. 36-43 and 72-89.
Jean Franco, "Oedipus Modernized," in Plotting Women: Gender and Representation in Mexico pp. 147-174.
de la Colina and Turrent, pp. 53-64.

3.October 16 & 18
El [This Strange Passion] (1952)

Evans, "El: Fetishism and Paranoia," The Films, pp. 111-23.
de la Colina and Turrent, pp. 95-103.

Topics for First Essay Distributed (Oct 16th).

4.October 23 & 25
Abismos de pasión [Wuthering Heights] (1953)

Anthony N. Fragola, "Buñuel's Re-vision of Wuthering Heights: The Triumph of L'amour fou over Hollywood Romanticism." Literature-Film Quarterly 22, no. 1 (January 1994): 50-56.
de la Colina and Turrent, pp. 104-112.
Baxter, pp 230-232.

5.October 30 & November 1
Viridiana (1961)

Robin W. Fiddian and Peter W. Evans, "Viridiana and the Death Instinct." In Challenges to Authority: Fiction and Film in Contemporary Spain, 61-70. London: Tamesis Books, 1988.
Luis Buñuel, "Viridiana," An Unspeakable Betrayal, pp. 226-229.
de la Colina and Turrent, pp. 149-158.
Baxter, pp. 255-257

First Essay Due (Nov. 1)

6.November 6 & 8
El angel exterminador [The Exterminating Angel] (1962)

de la Colina and Turrent, pp. 159-170.
Baxter, pp.257-262.

Friday November 9, 1:30PM, 19 Kane Hall, Latin American Studies presents Simon of the Desert

Friday, November 9-Sunday, November 11, The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz shown at Grand Illusion Theater. With talk by Richard T. Jameson at 7pm, November 9.

Monday, November 12-Thursday, November 15, Illusion Travels By Streetcar shown at Grand Illusion Theater.

Saturday, November 10, 9am-5pm, SYMPOSIUM (Kane Hall), with talks by Peter Evans, Jean Franco, Marsha Kinder, and Kathleen Murphy.

7.November 13 & 15
Belle de Jour (1967)

Harmony H. Wu, Unraveling Entanglements of Sex, Narrative, Sound, and Gender: The Discreet Charm of Belle de jour," in Kinder, pp. 111-140.
de la Colina and Turrent, pp. 185-191.
Baxter, pp.262-294.

Critique of Conference Paper Due (November 15).

8.November 20
Tristana (1970)

de la Colina and Turrent, pp. 201-208.

9.November 27 & 29
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972)

Marsha Kinder, ed. Luis Buñuel's The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, pp. 41-59, 60-76 and 82-98.
Peter William Evans, "Roads to and from the Abyss: Le Charme discret de la bourgeoisie and the Comedy Of Desire," in The Films, pp. 13-35.
de la Colina and Turrent, pp. 209-215.
Baxter, pp.295-303.

Topics for Second Essay Distributed (November 27).

10.December 4 & 6
That Obscure Object of Desire (1977)

Peter William Evans, "Cet obscur objet du désir and Sado-Masochism," in The Films, pp. 124-133.
Michael Wood, "The Corruption of Accidents: Buñuel's That Obscure Object of Desire (1977) from the Novel The Woman And the Puppet by Pierre Louys." In Modern European Filmmakers and the Art of Adaptation, ed. Andrew Horton and Joan Magretta, 329-340. New York: Frederick Ungar, 1981.
de la Colina and Turrent, pp. 225-232.
Baxter, pp. 309-313.

11.December 11
The Phantom of Liberty (1974)

Marsha Kinder, "The Tyranny of Convention in The Phantom of Liberty." Film Quarterly 28 (Summer 1975): 20-25.
Reynold Humphries, "Lacan and the Ostrich: Desire and Narration in Buñuel's Le fantome de la liberté." American Imago 52, no. 2 (Summer 1995): 191-203.
de la Colina and Turrent, pp. 216-224.
Baxter, pp.304-309.

Second Essay Due (December 11).

Required texts:

Marsha Kinder, Luis Buñuel's The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (Cambridge, 1998)
John Baxter, Buñuel (Carroll and Graf, 1999).
Xerox packet available from Odegaard Library Copy Center

Recommended texts:

Luis Buñuel, An Unspeakable Betrayal: Selected Writings of Luis Buñuel (UC Press, 2000)
Gwynne Edwards, The Discreet Art of Luis Buñuel: A Reading of His Films (Marion Boyars, 1991)
Enrique Camacho, Luis Buñuel, 100 Years: It Is Dangerous to Look Inside (New York: Museum of Modern Art, 2001).

Texts on Reserve at Odegaard:

An Unspeakable Betrayal: Selected Writings of Luis Bunuel, by Luis Bunuel, Jean-Claude Carriere, Garrett White (Translator), Hardcover - 275 pages (February 20, 2000), Univ California Press; ISBN: 0520208404
Luis Bunuel, 100 Years : It Is Dangerous to Look Inside, by Enrique Camacho (Editor), Paperback - 344 pages (March 2001), Museum of Modern Art; ISBN: 0810962195
The Discreet Art of Luis Bunuel : A Reading of His Films, by Gwynne Edwards, Paperback Reprint edition (June 1991), Marion Boyars; ISBN: 0714528323
Luis Bunuel's the Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (Cambridge Film Handbooks), by Marsha Kinder (Editor), Paperback - 244 pages (December 1998), Cambridge Univ Pr (Pap Txt); ISBN: 0521568315
Bunuel, by John Baxter, Stephen Baxter, Paperback - 336 pages (July 1999), Carroll & Graf; ISBN: 0786706198
Luis Bunuel, 100 Years : It Is Dangerous to Look Inside, by Enrique Camacho (Editor), Paperback - 344 pages (March 2001), Museum of Modern Art; ISBN: 0810962195
Sanchez Vidal, Agustin. Bunuel, Lorca, Dali: el enigma sin fin. Barcelona: Planeta, 1988. NX562.A1 S26 1988
Avila Duenas, Ivan Humberto. El cine mexicano de Luis Bunuel: estudio analitico de los argumentos y personajes. Mexico, D.F. : Instituto Mexicano de Cinematografia: Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes, 1994. PN1998.3.B86 A95 1994.
Sando, Paul. Diversions of Pleasure: Luis Bunuel and the Crises of Desire. Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1987. PN1998.A3 B8746 1987
Evans, Peter William. The Films of Luis Bunuel: Subjectivity and Desire. Oxford: Clarendon Press; New York: Oxford University Press, 1995.
El ojo : Bunuel, Mexico y el surrealismo. Mexico: Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes, 1996. PN1998.3.B86 O46 1996
Talens, Jenaro. Ojo tachado. English The branded eye: Bunuel's Un chien andalou. translated by Giulia Colaizzi. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1993. [1 copy ordered for Suzzallo/Allen Stacks on 02-08-2001.]
Bunuel, 100 anos: es peligroso asomarse al interior: exposicion organizada por Instituto Cervantes / [coordinacion general, Amaranta Arino. Bunuel, 100 ans: il est dangereux de se pencher au-dedans: exposition organise par Instituto Cervantes / [coordinatrice, Amaranta Arino] Paris: Centre Pompidou, 2000. PN1998.3.B86 B88 2000.
Aub, Max. Conversaciones con Bunuel: seguidas de 45 entrevistas con familiares, amigos y colaboradores del cineasta aragones. Madrid: Aguilar, 1985. PN1998.A3 B74 1985
Luis Bunuel, prohibido asomarse al interior. English Title Objects of Desire: Conversations with Luis Bunuel. Jose de la Colina & Tomas Perez Turrent. Edited and translated by Paul Lenti. New York: Marsilio, 1992. PN1998.A3 B757513 1992.
Ibarz, Merce. Bunuel documental: "Tierra sin pan" y su tiempo. Zaragoza, Espana: Prensas Universitarias de Zaragoza, 1999. HN590.H87 I23 1999.
Alcala, Manuel. Bunuel (cine de ideologia). Madrid, Cuadernos para el Dialogo, 1973. PN1998.A3 B74
La imaginacion en libertad: homenaje a Luis Bunuel. Edicion preparada por Antonio Lara. Madrid: Universidad Complutense, 1981. PN1998.A3 B79.
Durgnat, Raymond. Luis Bunuel. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1968.
Aranda, J. Francisco. Luis Bunuel : biografia critica. Barcelona : Lumen, 1975. PN1998.A3 B75 1975
Aranda, J. Francisco. Luis Bunuel: A Critical Biography. New York: Da Capo Press, 1975. PN1998.A3 B7513 1976
Bunuel, Luis. My Last Sigh. New York : Knopf, 1983. PN1998.A3 B7413 1983
Mellen, Joan, ed. The World of Luis Bunuel: Essays in Criticism. New York: Oxford University Press, 1978. PN1998.A3 B89
Bunuel, Luis. The Exterminating Angel and Los olvidados: Two Films by Luis Bunuel. London : Lorrimer, New York, N.Y. : [dist.] F. Unger Pub., 1984.
Bunuel, Luis. Three Screenplays: Viridiana, The Exterminating Angel, Simon of the Desert. New York : Orion Press, 1969. PN1997 .B795
Bunuel, Luis. Viridiana. English. Trans. Piergiuseppe Bozzetti Portsmouth, NH : Heinemann, 1996. PN1997 .V49813 1996
Franco, Jean. Critical Passions: Selected Essays. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1999. F1408.3 .F85 1999
Franco, Jean. Plotting Women: Gender and Representation in Mexico. New York: Columbia University Press, 1989. PQ7133 .F73 1989
Fiddian, Robin W. and Peter W. Evans. Challenges to Authority: Fiction and Film in Contemporary Spain. London: Tamesis, 1988. PQ6144 .F53 1988
Evans, Peter William, ed. Spanish Cinema: the Auteurist Tradition. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. PN1993.5.S7 S72 1999
Evans, Peter William. The Films of Luis Bunuel: Subjectivity and Desire Oxford: Clarendon Press; New York: Oxford University Press, 1995.
Kinder, Marsha. Blood Cinema: The Reconstruction of National Identity in Spain. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993. PN1993.5.S7 K5 1993
Kinder, Marsha, ed. Luis Bunuel's The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie. Cambridge [U.K.]; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999. PN1977.C444 L85 1999
Bordwell, David and Kristin Thompson. Film art: an introduction. New York : The McGraw-Hill Companies, 1997.
Bordwell, David y Kristin Thompson. El arte cinematografico : una introduccion. Barcelona : Paidos, 1995. PN1995 .B61718 1995
Bordwell, David. On the History of Film Style. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1997.
Hammon, Paul, ed. The Shadow and its Shadow: Surrealist Writings on the Cinema. San Francisco: City Lights Books, 2000. PN1995.9.S85 S5 2000
El ojo : Bunuel, Mexico y el surrealismo. Mexico: Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes, c1996. PN1998.3.B86 O46 1996
D'Lugo, Marvin. Guide to the Cinema of Spain. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1997. PN1993.5.S7 D68 1997

Some Buñuel Links

Evaluation

Essay One	30%
Essay Two	30%
Critique of Conference Paper	20%
Class Participation	20%

Plagiarism Policy

You are responsible for understanding and observing the following guidelines regarding plagiarism:

If you are caught committing plagiarism, your instructor will report the incident to the College of Arts and Sciences Committee on Academic Conduct. If the committee finds you guilty, the incident will go on record in the Committee database so they can monitor any future incidents, and it also will go on record in Student Affairs. A second incident will result in your suspension from the University.

Please let your instructor know if you have any questions about these guidelines or about UW policy on plagiarism.

Students With Disabilities

To request accommodations due to a disability, please contact Disabled Student Services, 448 Schmitz, (206) 543-8924 (V/TTY). If you have a letter from Disabled Student Services indicating that you have a disability that requires academic accommodations, please present the letter to the instructors so that we can discuss the accommodations you might need in this class.