Greatest Film Scenes
and Moments



The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972)

 



Written by Tim Dirks

Title Screen
Movie Title/Year and Scene Descriptions
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The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972, Fr.) (aka Le Charme Discret de la Bourgeoisie)

In surrealist director Luis Bunuel's satirical, dramatic comedy masterpiece about entitled dinner-goers, presented episodically, there were real-world events, inserted narratives, and dream sequences (one was a dream-within-a-dream) - it was the winner of the Best Foreign Film Oscar:

  • the attempts of six middle-class (affluent bourgeoisie) Parisians to have a meal together, including the host and hostess, Alice (Stephane Audran) and Henri Senechal (Jean-Pierre Cassel), Rafael Acosta (Fernando Rey) - the South American Ambassador of a fictional Latin American country called the Republic of Miranda, Francois (Paul Frankeur) and Simone Thévenot (Delphine Seyrig), and Simone's spaced-out alcoholic sister Florence (Bulle Ogier)
  • the constant interruptions of the lunch or dinner meal occurred amidst various encapsulating themes of the decaying European aristocracy, including murder, sex, infidelity, political corruption and drug-dealing, military maneuvers, terrorism, and religion, for example:

    - a misunderstanding about the date of the meal
    - the unexpected death in a nearby inn of a restaurant manager/owner in a curtained-room adjacent to the dining room, where he was mourned over during a vigil
    - the host and hostess, the Senechals, having sex in the upstairs bedroom and then in the adjacent garden
    - the arrival of a large crowd of French army officers on maneuvers who joined them for drinks and dinner

    - the transformation of a dining room into a theatrical stage behind a curtain, where the diners became actors in a play in front of a live audience, with a prompter whispering lines of dialogue to Henri who complained: "I don't know my lines" as the crowd whistled and booed them
    - the arrival of French gangsters, who mowed down the dining group with machine guns; Rafael woke up from this bad dream, and raided food from the refrigerator

  • the scene in a fancy teahouse cafe (with an orchestra, including a cellist) where the trio of women (Simone, Florence, and Alice) were dining, and listening to a cavalry lieutenant's macabre confessional story (with flashback) about murdering his stepfather with poisoned milk - and then, the waiter announced that they were out of beverages: tea and coffee with milk
  • the recurring, intermittent enigmatic image of the group of the six individuals, all dressed for dinner, walking down a long, unending empty country road - most prominently at the film's end before the scrolling credits
Recurring Theme: Dinner Group Walking Down Country Road

Bourgeoisie Guests Attempting to Dine Together

Death of Nearby Inn's Restaurant Manager/Owner

Sex in Garden Between the Hosts: The Senechals

Dining Table Setting on a Stage Set

Teahouse Tea - With No Beverages


French Gangsters With Machine Guns - A Bad Dream

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