Luis Bunuel Film Themes

Luis Bunuel pioneered surrealist cinema. Many of his films revolve around three themes he was fanatic about. These being, religion, class and sexual desire. These topics can be linked to Bunuel’s early years. He was born on February 22nd, 1900 in Calanda, Spain. His birthplace was of highly religious mindset as many places were in Spain. In Bunuel’s semi autobiography My Last Breath he says, “The middle ages lasted until World War I” (8). The “Miracle of Calanda” (13) was a tale in which an amputee had their leg restored by the Virgin Mary herself, according to 17th-century documents. Bunuel was the oldest of seven children. His family was wealthy, despite being prosperous Bunuel still adopted a contemptuous and rebellious attitude which is …show more content…
The family home was dominated by Luis’s father Leonardo, a rich bourgeois. This is due to the fact that prior to living in Calanda, Leonardo made an abundance of money in Cuba from selling firearms and hardware. Despite being wealthy, Bunuel was aware of the divide between the classes, he states in his book “The respectful subordination of the peasants to the big landowners was deeply rooted in tradition, and seemed unshakable” (8). In his films, he challenges this. Luis grew up in a conservative and religious environment. He describes life in his hometown Zaragoza to be of a linear fashion “The major moments marked by the daily bells of the church of Pilar” (8). Until the age of sixteen, he was an active member of the Catholic church. He served at mass and took communion until he began to question the logic of the institution's ways. He became aware of the contradictions between human desire and the church’s taboo. He was also disgusted with its power and wealth. Several of his films were blatant criticisms of religion and the Catholic church, which gave way to him fleeing Spain numerous times during his filmmaking