Art and the Occasional Randomness From the Mind of a Crazed Artist
Sorry I’ve been away for so long dearies…life and school and blah blah blah excuses. Fuck that, let’s get to the good stuff shall we? I want to bring to you today my lovelies a rare feature here in ManDuhLand – a film review, complete with spoilers.
(Don’t forget to enter the giveaway here!)
When most people think of Dali, they don’t think about movies. But they should, because Un Chien Andalou is pretty much the best 17 minute movie ever.
Made in 1929, it’s basically a black-and-white, live-action Dali painting. As anyone vaguely familiar with the movie knows, it opens with an extreme close up of a man slicing a woman’s eyeball open with a straight razor. And from there, it just keeps getting better!
It’s so short, I really don’t want to say too much and ruin it for anyone who subsequently goes and sees it, so I’ll try to keep this spoiler-proof. It’s actually a collaboration between Dali and Luis Bunuel. Not being as familiar with Bunuel’s work, I tend to see the very Dali things about the short. Ants, Dali’s favorite symbols of death and decay, and sexuality/masturbation are as present as ever. In particular, Dali displays once again his anxiety about his sexuality (he claimed to only find sexual relief in masturbation) in one particular scene, in which ants pour from the palm of a man’s right hand.
The non-linear time is also worth noting, as it takes you a bit by surprise and is used quite humorously.
If you rent or buy the DVD, I highly suggest you get a copy of the version with the extra commentary. The commentaries are longer than the movie itself, but they are so worth it. As a Dali fanatic, I found out some things from these commentaries that I didn’t previously know about Dali. Now I leave you with a kick ass song written about the movie, The Pixies Debaser.