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The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie

The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie

1972
Comedy, Drama
1h 42m
Several bourgeois friends planning to get together for dinner experience a succession of highly unusual occurrences that interfere with their expected dining enjoyment. (imdb)
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The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie

1972
Comedy, Drama
1h 42m
Your probable score
Avg Percentile 71.22% from 2226 total ratings

Ratings & Reviews

(2226)
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Rated 23 Feb 2007
100
99th
A delicious, clever dark humor film with some truly outstanding dream scenes. Surrealism at its best.
Rated 15 Nov 2014
54
51st
When I first heard that title, I thought finally someone's going to tell the truth about the bourgeoisie. What a disappointment, it would be hard to imagine a less fair or accurate portrait.
Rated 05 Dec 2008
91
82nd
Surreal, audacious and severly enjoyable, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeroisie is one of the most entertaining, dark and outrageous black comedies ever filmed.
Rated 07 Oct 2009
100
99th
The idea that this movie could be a sitcom (if some of the cruder elements were removed) is highly amusing to me. The solipsism is mind numbing.. it's sort of like No Exit but the individuals are willful participants or occupants in their realities, and that makes all the satire so much more maddening for the viewer.
Rated 05 Jul 2010
3
32nd
Filled with cheap and obvious satire and surrealism straight out of a Tuesday afternoon sitcom.
Rated 18 Jun 2020
93
99th
The second mad Bunuel film I watched in two days, and another I really enjoyed. Put me in mind of some of the more surreal and confusing dreams I've had, which is at once fascinating and unsettling. It's probably more accessible in terms of its themes than the other films of his I've seen, but no less intriguing. I've got a boxset of this nonsense - I'll be through it in no time. Recommended.
Rated 04 Jun 2007
95
98th
Excellent skewering of the upper class through Bunuel's signature surrealist lens and black humor.
Rated 13 Apr 2008
90
88th
I absolutely love Bunuel's sense of humor. Subtle, yet sharply satirical. The understated performances sell the whole thing.
Rated 12 Oct 2008
87
86th
It's very funny and while, if you really look at it, it's actually pretty mean spirited; the humour means that you don't feel it as much as if a non-Buñuel had done it.
Rated 17 Dec 2008
9
93rd
Very lovely film with some of the best cinematography I've ever seen. Surreal and I loved it. I bet it gets better with repeated viewings too.
Rated 02 Jun 2010
8
88th
What was Buñuel trying to say in this twisted array of surreal dreams and visions? I don't think distinguishing between reality and dream is important, but it's more a social study on the (irrational) impulses of the bourgeoisie. For all of their financial advantages and "social manners" they cannot seem to be even able to have dinner without being distracted. They are on a road to nowhere. Here this is presented in an often surprising, charming and humorous fashion.
Rated 28 Nov 2010
92
86th
Absurdist film from Luis Bunuel is enormously entertaining, following a group of bourgeoisie as they attempt to meet for dinner. Bizarre surreal events ensue. The entire cast is wonderful, and Bunuel maintains a light touch, encouraging the audience to chuckle at his protagonists without being mean-spirited (you feel they are all helpless to Bunuel's machinations). Great fun, and very funny at times. A clear inspiration for David Lynch.
Rated 26 Apr 2012
65
71st
Cleverly composed with many parts done well, but the fact that an assault on the bourgeoisie can be so unanimously liked by cinephiles (a fairly bourgeois crowd, after all, even if mostly petit, perhaps) gives reason to wonder what is going on here between the filmmaker and his audience.
Rated 09 Feb 2007
88
91st
Many of the shots in this film are so plainly lit and blandly composed as to be no more visually exciting than an episode of "Love, American Style". But he does manage a few terrific images, like the repeated motif of the characters trudging down their endless road to nowhere. What's more important is the delightful array of absurdist situations he employs to skewer the arrogance, indifference and hypocrisy of the bourgeois. Quietly amusing, and tremendously clever and incisive and surprising.
Rated 04 Mar 2008
75
62nd
A bit corny for my taste. Surrealism does not have to be cheap and pretentious.
Rated 26 Jul 2010
85
76th
Watching Bunuel's wicked, surreal assault on the upper class made me feel like I needed to do some outside reading to keep up. Bunuel takes dead aim at the hypocrisy and judgmental nature of his characters, showing how their zealotry over stature controls all. It's an odd, devilish beast and a complex, questing work. It may not fully warm my heart, but I can readily see it as a piece of cinematic art capable of launching a thousand film classes.
Rated 08 Apr 2011
89
93rd
Wonderfully surreal and quite funny. Buñuel revels in the character's hypocrisy and selfishness, while providing plenty to chew on. Great satire.
Rated 24 May 2012
4
74th
Scathing though it may be, what strikes me most is how Bunuel refuses to outright dehumanize these characters. Surprisingly, I just couldn't hate these people. He condemns their arrogance, hypocrisy, and entitlement, but recognizes their fears and desires.
Rated 17 May 2013
95
98th
Art!!!
Rated 09 Jan 2014
4
52nd
what beings as a rather dull and uninteresting chatter-fest turns into something a bit more amusing as it descends further down the rabbit-hole of dreamland. seems to be a representation of the collective paranoia of the upper classes. nonetheless, it still doesn't reach the dizzying heights you might expect given its reputation, and its wit isn't exactly sharp. it's also ironic that this film isn't exactly a low-budget garage project.
Rated 08 Mar 2015
60
50th
I didn't have fun with this one. The whole "it was just a dream (again)! clever, eh?" stick grew stale really fast for me.
Rated 01 Dec 2015
70
71st
There's always a violence to Bunuel, as though there's a hurdle within the narrative that's put between him and the audience, beyond which we may never really travel.
Rated 03 May 2007
47
50th
Has some quite funny, satirical moments, but the end rather runs down into repetition, and I think it makes a stronger statement as an absurdist, situationist farce than as any kind of serious allegory.
Rated 07 Sep 2007
82
67th
I really enjoyed most of this, it's got a lot of great moments and twists throughout the film. The ending really threw me for a loop and while I can't deny how much I enjoyed all the parts, the ending really made the whole fall apart.
Rated 02 May 2008
70
90th
Hilarious satire, and well worth seeing, but not a masterpiece, surely? A shallow 'deep' film. Then, surrealism often is. It must be the Freudian influence, which is also shallow deep. Because the absurd (of dreams, and bourgeois sensibilities, etc.) is hard to grasp, we pretend it has meaning, essentially making a kind of 'sense' of the nonsense, which by definition has none. The only ones we're psychoanalyzing here are ourselves, as 'psychologists'. Ergo, all along, the bourgeoisie - was us.
Rated 14 Feb 2009
88
96th
Bunuel still does it well in his later years.
Rated 09 Apr 2009
100
93rd
A frequently hilarious, sometimes savage surrealist fable which makes all its points beautifully and then goes on 20 minutes too long. The performances are a joy.
Rated 09 Jun 2009
95
53rd
JUST EAT ALREADY!
Rated 30 Oct 2009
87
94th
Provocative, brilliantly cinic and bitingly funny. A must-see for movie lovers.
Rated 22 Nov 2010
99
86th
What can I say¡ Just Buñuel at his funniest best! It's just such an irreverent and charming movie. Surreal but not hermetic nor pretentious, it's one of his most accesible works. Delicious from beggining to end. Highly recommended. Even though he made even better films! What a genius Buñuel was!
Rated 03 Dec 2010
63
23rd
I don' get it. Is this supposed to be funny?
Rated 10 Apr 2011
100
85th
5 Shaqtaculars
Rated 10 May 2011
85
76th
It was funny and the story was even interesting. But the acting just seemed a bit off.
Rated 10 Jul 2011
50
15th
Chop it up and turn it into a series of SNL sketches, I'll like it a lot (and no, this is not dark humor, it is not subtle irony and it's very, very, very dated).
Rated 09 Sep 2011
20
4th
Fuck off now.
Rated 23 Jan 2012
50
23rd
Another communist anti-bourgeois propaganda film, I've heard it all before, told in a slow, boring way, without any particularly interesting shots or cinematography. Not a good film.
Rated 14 May 2012
90
92nd
When a filmmaker has the tenacity to create a film that's freed from the confines of typical narrative, and he knows how to do it properly (a key point), what you have is a fascinating, fresh film experience. Bunuel succeeds. I like the subtle satire and the dark humor, but what I love about this film is the brilliant free-flowing, carefree narrative. It's fun, amusing, and refreshingly unhinged.
Rated 15 Jun 2012
70
81st
Once viewed as boldly surrealist satire, it now seems an almost realist portrayal of intersecting bourgeois economy, society, and 'values'. According to a first-time viewer in her early thirties I watched it with recently, the film says it is 'surreal', signals it for you, but doesn't seem very different from other movies in which people dream, except that straightforwardly showing everyday, normal bourgeois hypocrisy and criminality could disturb the collective political unconscious(ness).
Rated 02 Sep 2012
99
94th
The history of Buñuel's career is the distilattion of rage, until he is able to isolate that mundane irritation that still afflicts the well-fed when they have to wait. The discreet charm of the bourgeoisie is their polite handling of their sense of futility and dismay. (Of course, it is also one of those sublime titles that applies to the medium as a whole.) Sooner or later, a meal becomes a massacre. This is the work of a great filmmaker in his classic period.
Rated 09 Dec 2012
80
80th
Seamlessly flows from one WTF moment to the next leaving you with a world of subtle mindfuck accompanied by some pretty decent dark humor. Most of it was smirky for me but I had a couple genuine laughs. I did like the part when the military was fighting a war outside their dinner party. And the state of constant using and abusing accompanied by paranoia was spot on. Still, I don't see what the big fuss is about. I see people like this everyday. Maybe it's hard to spot the forest from the trees.
Rated 29 Dec 2012
67
43rd
I guess I just think that Buñuel films are interesting, but not at all funny. I really liked the dream sequences at least.
Rated 21 May 2013
70
44th
The weirdness of it all is enjoyable and quite unsettling and there are two great scenes - when the terrorist trashes the room whilst the man flirts with her, and the dinner table on the stage. Still I felt quite cold towards it. It is very well put together but something about it just doesn't ring true or hit home. The characters feel like empty vessels there only to be a part of the events as is the story which seems to be there mainly to provide satire. It just feels lifeless.
Rated 04 Oct 2013
8
80th
Bunuel is clearly a good director yet something about him doesn't speak directly to me, and that's what I want out of my directors, because I'm very selfish and finicky and kind of an overall asshole. But, the asshole marxist in me is amused by some of his satire, and I did enjoy how he kind of shattered the chronology of events with the dream within a dream within a dream gimmick. I also like that all of their dreams led to nowhere/their own deaths. Damn bourgeoisie. "Ha ha!" - Nelson.
Rated 15 Mar 2014
80
90th
Not so much about the characters themselves as what they believe in. There's a certain type of people who define themselves by adhering to a social construct in order to feel special, or even inherently better than other people. A grotesque form of theatre. It's not era dependent either, I know people today who would fit right in.
Rated 15 Apr 2014
80
37th
For the most part, I appreciated this film more than I enjoyed it. However, there's a shot at the end that had me giggling uncontrollably. It's the perfect final joke to this bizarre ride. It makes the preceding 100 minutes worth it.
Rated 27 Feb 2015
77
55th
Hmm. It was difficult trying to get any enjoyment out of this film initially, as the dreams kept burying themselves within each other, I was just wondering where it was going to end up. Turns out ... nowhere -- the film just continues walking down the road, hoping to get to its destination soon. By the time it does, it won't even be aware of it.
Rated 14 May 2015
10
4th
Utterly bland. Satire is Buñuel's weakest link.
Rated 11 Jan 2016
48
7th
Outdated anti-bourgeois satire, without any particular technical achievement - except from a good cinematography. The "dream inside a dream" mechanism was nothing new even in the 1972. I love surrealism but not when it is used to explain a very materialistic and realistic point-of-view: it's not the right tool, it becomes only a rebus to resolve, where the answer will be only a shallow aphorism. And there is a more "materialistic and realistic" point-of-view than marxism?
Rated 18 Sep 2016
87
87th
Reporter: Who are your favorite characters in the movie? Buñuel: The cockroaches.
Rated 01 Oct 2017
88
86th
Fairly delightful slice of surreal satire from Buñuel, as a group of faintly pompous bourgeoisie try repeatedly to dine together, in betwixt grappling with other absurd irritants. The kind of humor which tickles you more than it makes you laugh out loud...and yet, in doing so, it arguably resonates more deeply than a more overtly funny film might have.
Rated 07 Aug 2018
80
73rd
I can't claim to get everything Bunuel is laying down but I can revel in his superb absurdity. It's confusing, it's funny, and it is probably saying a lot about European politics circa 1970.
Rated 03 Jan 2019
90
96th
Henüz izlemedim ama bir nitelik arz ettiğine eminim. Sınıflı toplum eleştirisi, arzunun akışkanlığı ve kışkırtıcı bir unsur olarak gizemin tek başlık altında ifade bulması beni bayağı (pek çok) etkiledi. Seviniyorum.
Rated 26 Apr 2021
70
31st
Invites quite a grasp on Bunuel's stance as he nit picks at the institutions, cultures and classes. A take on the Bourgeoisie that seems to formulate it's own logic although we know as an audience it is ridiculously satirical. In particular, these dream sequences seem to act as Bunuel's way of testing this bourgeois logic, vulnerability, the shame associated with it's ideals as we see for a short sequence. The growing fear of death becomes important for that matter as well.
Rated 05 Jun 2007
40
23rd
Not funny. What is gratuitous gore doing in an "art" film?
Rated 14 Aug 2007
96
96th
Luis Bunuel at his best, great French actors, whimsical, funny rpotrait of French decadents in the 70s, caustic view of Catholic church as always. Fernando Rey plays a priest who is into S & M. great scene where Jean Pierre Cassell and Delphine Seyrig invite their friends over and don't show up until after they've just had sex.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
50
39th
Interesting. Ponderous & slow.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
80
32nd
Saw it, don't understand it.
Rated 22 Oct 2007
90
88th
The meaninglessness of the form perfectly mirrors the meaninglessness of these characters' lives. It seems to me that the punctuated moments on "The Road to Nowhere" serve the film in the same way.
Rated 01 Mar 2008
92
87th
# 151
Rated 26 Apr 2008
80
76th
Sharply - but at the same time vaguely - funny in its delightfully attentive and unequalled look at a few individuals' mental and physical reality (with main focus clearly on the former).
Rated 05 Jul 2008
75
89th
Never boring,
Rated 22 Sep 2008
65
92nd
Adsurd og vanvittig - skal ses
Rated 19 Dec 2008
92
84th
163
Rated 27 May 2009
84
51st
What are they walking towards? The inevitability of death.
Rated 24 Dec 2009
100
99th
Deceptively casual film that conceals much artistry and insight. Bunuel shifts from reality to reverie, from one level of narrative to another, so effortlessly that life and dream are one marvelous unity, including missed dinner parties, terrorist plots, ghostly police sergeants, a bishop turned gardener turned murderer, a marijuana-smoking military division on maneuvers, and much else. In fact, a world.
Rated 13 Jan 2010
91
82nd
173
Rated 03 May 2010
25
1st
While liking the idea I still found it boring.
Rated 07 May 2010
80
24th
I didn't get it.
Rated 14 Jul 2010
80
91st
Bizarre
Rated 13 Aug 2010
90
88th
12 agustos 10, demetle- sarap icerek & bol sembolizm ile ordu, kilise ve tabii ki burjuva taslamasi. aslinda ordu ve kilise tamamen burjuva gozunden irdelendigi icin taslaniyor. burjuvayi, evin icinden- planlarin gobeginden, hatta bizzar ruyalarinin icinden anlatabilmis bir film. en etkileyen sekans mavi gozlu askerin anisi, ruyasi. tuyler urperticiydi. tekrardan izlenebilecek bir film..
Rated 02 Oct 2010
15
1st
Either this is a remarkably stupid movie - or the subtitles were bad. I really couldn't figure what the movie was going for.
Rated 30 Nov 2010
40
97th
"Buñuel repeatedly takes on the gross presumptuousness of his characters--their unwillingness to admit defeat and to take things only at face value." - Ed Gonzalez
Rated 08 Jan 2011
100
95th
Masterpiece.
Rated 07 Apr 2011
45
13th
Immensely disappointing - there's very rarely any teeth to this class satire, and Bunuel's "but they're people too" approach tempers the humour and sucks the energy out of everything he does. It's telling that the funniest, most interesting parts of the film are when Bunuel is at his most acerbic - when Rafael dodges questions about his country's state at a party; Rafael's interactions with a pretty young freedom fighter; the priest's reaction to having to forgive his parents' murderer.
Rated 08 Apr 2011
80
81st
watched: 2011, 2012, 2023
Rated 19 Apr 2011
96
95th
The Discreet Charm of Buñuel.
Rated 14 Jun 2011
80
85th
A surreal, entertaining fable of upper-class hypocrisy, Luis Buñuel's "Le charme discret de la bourgeoisie" is delighted to constantly pull the rug from under its audience. Deliberately bewildering, but also intriguing and often humorous, it's a delightful little farce that employs the "it was all a dream" trick a few too many times. It would be futile to seek for meaning in this maze of dreams within dreams, but I always found something to keep me entertained in Buñuel's peculiar flourishes.
Rated 18 Nov 2011
30
7th
(didn't finish) Appreciated the direction, but still found it unbearably slow and boring.
Rated 30 Nov 2011
91
82nd
#189
Rated 17 Jan 2012
90
94th
I only wish there was more gun murder
Rated 17 Feb 2012
8
76th
Nope! No dinner for you.
Rated 18 Apr 2012
85
90th
Hilarious and far, far smarter than me. Buñuel clearly has nothing but contempt for the hypocrisy and narcissism of the upper crust, but it takes you awhile to realize it. He drapes his hatred in absurdity and humor but, by the end, has skewered them brilliantly.
Rated 28 Aug 2012
99
99th
Finally, someone made a film that celebrates the charm of the Bourgeoisie. (Original score: 90, upgraded after re-watch on 2 October 2020.)
Rated 01 Feb 2013
55
15th
Yemek, ziyafet, davet, büyükelci, uyusturucu ticareti, rüya, kabus, rahip, bahcivan rahip, günah cikarma, kovasini aldatma, misafirler beklerken ask pesinde ev sahipleri (Bir türlü bir araya gelip yemek yiyemeyen 3 2 si cift, 1 büyükelci ve baska kiz alti kisinin (3 cift oldu) hikayesini anlatiyor. Sembolizm var. 2 sahnesi cok iyi yemek masasindayken perdenin acilmasi ve konuklarin kendini tiyatro salonunda bulmasi. 2. son günahini cikaran adamin rahibin ebeveynlerini öldürmüs olmasi)
Rated 02 Jul 2013
84
91st
Note to myself: watch it one more time with a bottle of wine.
Rated 19 Jul 2013
60
58th
ger; [Der diskrete Charme der Bourgeoisie; Le charme discret de la bourgeoisie]; verschiedene reiche freunde treffen sich zum essen.; (zunehmend absurde zwischenfälle machen es schwer zwischen realität und ficiton zu unterscheiden.)
Rated 22 Mar 2014
80
92nd
This is a delicious and bizarre satire about social structure and hypocrisy. It rightfully makes fun of the peculiarities of the upper class culture. The film keeps you interested right to the end. It's lighter and more humorous than Bunuel's other films and a real delight to watch.
Rated 18 Aug 2014
90
90th
Everyone assumes they're not part of the bourgeoisie when they watch this film, which is what makes many of its pretentious reviews so hilarious. REPORTER: Who are your favorite characters in the movie? BUÑUEL: The cockroaches. -- from an interview in Newsweek To which I'd add, they bear a suspicious resemblance to many critics.
Rated 13 Sep 2014
70
50th
weird.
Rated 17 Jan 2016
75
59th
I love these sorts of movies where the reality starts to disintegrate
Rated 07 Mar 2016
60
15th
The only thing discreet for this film was its plot. I felt like it wasn't clear what this movie was trying to do until it was over and I looked up a description of the movie. For a person that did no research on this beforehand I just kept laughing, not because it's a comedy, but because it was so darn weird and surreal. I did find some parts pretty entertaining but it felt like it was quite long for how little the payoff was in the end. Plus a dream within a dream shtick?...
Rated 28 Aug 2017
100
99th
ilk izleyiş: 85
Rated 17 Nov 2017
5
91st
"I can hardly believe that the gap between rich and poor is widening." "You've been misled, our economy is expanding. There are figures to prove it."
Rated 01 Jul 2018
40
7th
bir filmi sevmem için iyi hikaye, iyi diyaloglar veya iyi görüntülerden en az 1'ine sahip olması lazım. bu film 3'te 0 çekiyor, olan tek şey semboller, metaforlar. pozitif yanı buna rağmen pek sıkıcı olmaması.
Rated 21 Jan 2019
60
26th
Simone Thévenot: "What are sursiks?"
Rated 21 Feb 2019
93
91st
93.00
Rated 31 Aug 2019
77
74th
‘wtf', but in a good way
Rated 13 Sep 2019
61
31st
I didn't "get" this film at all. I'm going to need to revisit it sometime.
Rated 11 Apr 2020
84
88th
Peixes
Rated 20 Apr 2020
83
84th
hilarious and forever relevant. complaints that the humour here is too on the nose, are themselves the height of bourgeois. the underclass has much stronger representation in the rulers' dreams than in reality.

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