Bunuel, Luis

(Luis Bunuel Portoles / February 22, 1900, Calanda, Spain-July 29, 1983, Mexico, D.F. Mexico)

   The son of wealthy landowners, he was educated by Jesuit priests. He studied natural science at the Uni­versity of Madrid, where he befriended Salvador Dali and Federico Garcia Lorca. In 1920, he created one of the first European film clubs. He went to France in 1925 to enroll in the Académie du Cinéma. The frequenting of surrealists marked him for the rest of his life. He entered films as assistant director (1926 Mauprat, Jean Epstein; 1927 La Sirène des Tropiques / UK and USA: The Siren of the Tropics, Henri Etiévant, Mario Nalpas; 1928 La Chute de la Maison Usher / UK and USA: The Fall of the House of Usher, also co-screenwriter, co-adapter Jean Epstein) and actor (1926 Carmen, Jacques Feyder). Having returned to Spain in the early 1930s, he worked as executive producer (1936 Madrid 36 / Espana / Espana leal en armas, documentary, also screenwriter, author of commentary, editorial supervisor, Jean-Paul Le Chanois; Quien mi quiere a mi?, also supervisor, José Luis Sâenz de Heredia, Spain; 1937 jCentinela, alerta!, also supervisor, Jean Grémillon, Spain). A Republican during the Civil War, he was sent to the USA by the Republic's government in 1938. He stayed in America after the victory of General Franco and landed a job as archivist and film librarian at the MGM shorts de­partment. In 1946, he went to Mexico, where he met producer Oscar Dancigers, who financed several of his films. He co-wrote Si usted no puede, yo si (Julian Soler, Mexico, 1951) and occasionally appeared as actor in motion pictures (1964 Llanto por un bandido / Les Bandits / La Charge des Rebelles / Cavlieri della vendetta, Carlos Saura, Spain / France / Italy; 1965 En este pueblo no hay ladrones, Albert Isaac, Mexico) and as himself in the TV documentary Cinéastes de notre Temps: Luis Bunuel (Robert Valey, 1964). His movie Viridiana won the Cannes film Festival Golden Palm in 1962. Most of his movies of the 1960s and 1970s were French productions. He co-authored an autobi­ography with his favorite collaborator, screenwriter Jean-Claude Carrière: 1982 Mon Dernier Soupir (Edi­tions Robert Laffont). His sons Rafael and Juan Luis are also filmmakers. Other credits (as author of original book): 1971 Una historia decente (short, Ger-ardo Garcia, Spain); (as uncredited collaborator to screenplay): 1971 Johnny Got His Gun (Dalton Trumbo, USA); (as co-screenwriter, co-adapter): 1972 Le Moine / Il Monaco / Der Mônch und di Frauen (Ado Kyrou, France / Italy / West Germany); (as author original novel): 1984 Igra o pamcenju I umiranju (TV movie, Pedrag Sindjelic, Yugoslavia); (as author of previous unproduced screenplay): 1997 La novia de medianoche / USA: The Midnight Bride (Antonio F. Simon, Spain).

 Filmography

        ◘ Un Chien andalou / USA: An Andalusian Dog (short; also co-screenwriter, producer, actor, editor)

        ◘ L'Âge d'Or / USA: The Golden Age (also screenwriter, editor, composer)

1933 ◘ Las Hurdes / Tierra sin pan / USA: Land Without Bread (documentary; short; also co-screenwriter, co-adapter, producer, editor; Spain)

1935 ◘ Don Quintin, el amargo / USA: Don Quintin the Bitter (official director: Luis Marquina; Bunuel refused to sign this film, which he actually directed; also co-screenwriter, co-adapter, co-dialogist, executive producer; Spain)

        ◘ La hija de Juan Simon (Nemesion M. Sobrevila, José Luis Saenz de Heredia, then Luis Bunuel; also executive producer, supervisor, actor; Spain)

1940 ◘ El Vaticano de Pio XII (documentary)

1947 ◘ Gran Casino / Spain: En el Viejo Tampico (Mexico)

        ◘ El gran Calavera / USA: The Great Madcap (Mexico)

        ◘ Los Olvidados / UK: The Forgotten Ones / USA: The Young and the Damned (also co-screenwriter; Mexico)

        ◘ Susana / Susana, demonio y carne / USA: The Devil and the Flesh (also co-screenwriter; Mexico)

        ◘ La hija del engano / USA: Daughter of Deceit (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter; Mexico)

1952 ◘ Una mujer sin amor / USA: A Woman Without

        ◘ Love (also co-screenwriter; Mexico)

        ◘ Subida al cielo / UK: Ascent to Heaven / USA: Mexican Bus Ride (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter; Mexico)

1953 ◘ El Bruto / UK and USA: The Brute (also co-screenwriter; Mexico)

        ◘ El / UK: This Strange Passion / USA: Torments (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter; Mexico)

1954 ◘ Las aventuras de Robinson Crusoe / Robinson / USA: The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter, co-dialogist; shot in 1952)

        ◘ Abismos de pasiôn / Cumbres borrascosas / UK and USA: Wuthering Heights (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter; Mexico)

        ◘ La illusion viaja en tranvia / USA: Illusion Travels By Streetcar (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter; Mexico)

        ◘ El rio y la muerte / USA: The River and the Death (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter; Mexico)

1956 ◘ Ensayo de un crimen / Spain: La vida criminal de Archibald de la Cruz / UK: Rehearsal for a Crime / USA: The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter; Mexico)

        ◘ Cela s'appelle l'Aurore / Gli amanti di domani / Amanti senza domani (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter; France / Italy)

        ◘ La Mort en ce Jardin / La muerte en el jardin / UK: Evil Eden / The Diamond Hunters / USA: Death in the Garden / Gina (also co-screenwriter; France / Mexico)

        ◘ Nazarin / USA: Nazarin (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter; Mexico)

        ◘ La Fièvre monte à El Pao / Los ambiciosos / UK: Fever Mounts at El Pao / USA: Fever Rises in El Pao / Republic of Sin (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter; France / Mexico)

        ◘ The Young One / White Trash / La joven / UK:

        ◘ Island of Shame (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter; USA / Mexico)

1963 ◘ Viridiana (also co-screenwriter; Spain / Mexico; shot in 1961)

        ◘ El angel exterminador / USA: The Exterminat­ing Angel (also screenwriter, dialogist; Spain / Mexico)

        ◘ Le Journal d'une Femme de Chambre / Il diario di una cameriera / UK: The Diary of a Cham­bermaid / USA: Diary of a Chambermaid (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter, co-editor, co-dialogist; France / Italy)

        ◘ Simon del desierto / UK and USA: Simon of the Desert (also co-screenwriter; Mexico)

1967 ◘ Belle de Jour / Bella di giorno / USA: Belle de Jour (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter, co-dialogist, uncredited actor; France / Italy)

        ◘ La Voie lactée / La via lattea / La via lactea / USA: The Milky Way (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter, co-dialogist, cameo, voice, composer; France / Italy / Spain)

        ◘ Tristana (also co-screenwriter, producer; France / Italy / Spain)

1972 ◘ Le Charme discret de la Bourgeoisie / Il fascino discreto della borghesia / El discreto encanto de la burguesia / USA: The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (also screenwriter, dialogist, sound effects; France / Italy / Spain)

1974 ◘ Le Fantôme de la Liberté / Il fantasma della libertà / UK: The Phantom of Liberty / USA:

        ◘ The Specter of Freedom (also co-screenwriter, cameo, sound effects; France / Italy / Spain)

1977 ◘ Cet Obscur Objet du Désir / Este oscuro objeto del deseo / USA: That Obscure Object of Desire (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter, co-dialogist; France / Spain)