My Last Sigh

Bunuel gave some interviews towards the end of his life discussing his long list of movies. That's why I was delighted to find that his autobiography--which is one of the greatest, if not the greatest by a filmmaker--does not dwell on them. Instead Don Luis chronicles his childhood and upbringing, the relationships he cultivated, and meditates on life, love, death, art, alcohol and cigarettes. Many of the stories from his younger days are even more surreal than his movies. He writes in detail about his stormy friendships with Garcia Lorca and Dali, about his half-hearted attempt to try Hollywood on for size, meetings with Hitchcock, Fritz Lang, and others. The book is not somber or sentimental, it's not over-inflated. Bunuel's voice does not intimidate, it soothes. He's a master storyteller, a very gifted and generous writer.

Writings by film directors tend to resemble their films, and "My Last Sigh" is no exception. Bunuel's films are anarchic, funny, unpredictable, subversive, and often disturbing in a way that's hard to pin down. So is this, his autobiography!Though he disclaims literary talent, Bunuel turns out to be a wonderful writer, and the book is stuffed with piquant anecdotes and elegant observations. I'm afraid to quote examples, because this review would go on forever. Suffice to say that, if you could choose to live any person's life, Bunuel's would be a hard choice to beat, just for the adventure and entertainment value. This may be my favorite book written by a filmmaker.

"My Last Sigh" is the most enrapturing biography ever left to us by a great filmmaker. Luis Bunuel remains one of the true masters of the cinema, a director with a distinctive style and taste that makes his movies both timeless and exquisite. His bio is like his films, a work filled with passion, freedom, violence and humor, and of course, surrealism. Here Bunuel describes his priviliged upbringing in Spain and his friendships with poet Federico Garcia Lorca and painter Salvador Dali. It is especially interesting to hear Bunuel speak of his appreciation for both these men, their brilliance and influences on him (Lorca introduced him to the world of poetry he writes). It is especially fascinating to read about his entrance into the surrealist movement and the anarchy and personal freedom the movement expressed. It is here where he and Dali make "Un Chien Andalou," one of the classics of the cinema with the notorious shot of a razor slicing across a woman's eyeball, this was followed by the scandalous "L'Age D'or" which was banned for nearly 50 years. Bunuel is also a great tourist here, detailing in great fashion cultural differences and experiences as when he moves in exile to Mexico where he makes classics like the influental "Los Olvidados," "Simon Of The Desert," "The Exterminating Angel" and "Viridiana." Bunuel reveals cultural realities of the Mexican populace that are as true today as then. This is a book that also breathes for a passion for life, in wonderful detail Bunuel dedicates chapters to simply the things he has enjoyed in life, appreciated and to those things which have obsessed him. There's a great chapter on his view about Love. He writes with an intellectual yet poetic and personal style that makes this book not stale at all but enjoyable and memorable. When one looks at his body of work, especially the European films like "Belle De Jour," "Diary Of A Chambermaid," "That Obscure Object Of Desire" and "The Phantom Of Liberty," especially "The Discreet Charm Of The Bourgousie," it is evident Bunuel was a driven, obsessed artist and this book also reveals he was a man of humor and good taste. This is required reading for any fan of the cinema and anyone who feels the true surrealist call.

I decided to read this book after being completely baffled by The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie. I thought reading the book might help me find the rational narrative that the film seemed to have lacked. This book has turned my conception about art on its head. It clarifies and illuminates. It also amuses.

I can say this book changed my life when I read it. I was eighteen years old and loved Buñuel's wild, masterful films, but as soon as I read this book I realized his life had been another masterpiece, just as the poet Federico García Lorca (one of Buñuel's closest friends) was a masterpiece himself. This book is deep, touching, provoking, and it's amazingly well written. You can see life in it. You get to know a man in search for freedom, full of passion and contradictions. A marxist bourgeois, a christian atheist, a brute dilettant who enjoyed classical music and rude jokes. One of the most talented men of our era. An enigma. A genius.