Un Chien Andalou

Chien Andalou is a classic Surrealist video from 1929 put together by Luis Bunuel and Salvator Dali. It is only about 20 minutes long but is quite interesting. I have heard about this film all my life but have finally gotten around to watching it (4 times). It is on streaming video on the Internet but I found the DVD of Chien Andalou very good because Bunuel's son does a long commentary added feature on his father, the film and Dali that was very interesting. He says that Surrealism is the basis of all advertising because of its attempt to show you the everyday in a way that pulls you out of normal consciousness (surreal) and see it as new, thereby jogging your brain and making the image last. He also talks a lot about his dad and Dali and Garcia Lorca as three college friends who went on to fame and how they got along.

I have enjoyed a number of films by Bunuel and I had heard that "Un Chien Andalou" was one of his best. I watched it and I apparently am not in the proper mindset to appreciate "art". There were scenes that clearly were experimental and scenes that may intrigue some viewers. However, it is not really a movie; it's an experiment. Serious students of film will, no doubt, be in awe of "Un Chien Andalou". However, it reminds me of the last film I saw with input from Salvador Dali; "Spellbound". I first saw it at a college theater in Minneapolis many years ago. I liked the movie but the thing I always remember about that viewing were the oohs and aahs when the Dali sequences appeared. There were a number of other unique aspects to that movie that came and went in complete silence that day. That experience helped me to realize that some people decide ahead of time what is going to impress them. If "Un Chien Andalou" helped Bunuel and others learn to make better films then lets applaud his effort. I've seen it once now and once is enough. Fortunately Bunuel went on to create better movies.

I first saw this in a film class I took at USC during my undergrad. Could not remember the name of it but I finally found it.

I love this movie because its as inexplicable as people's dreams. Your (or at least my) dreams are often strewn bits of random images that somehow make sense while you are dreaming, that give an overall feeling of what's happening, but try to explain it in once you wake up and one can find themselves at a loss for words. But Dali knew exactly how to visually tell the story of something as random as our dreams.

Great movie and my Spanish classes loved the extras that included interviews with Bunel's son that gave some great insight!

What would be of experimental cinema without this masterpiece.
Buñuel and Dali, what to expect from this two minds!
I need to agree that the transfer is not very good on the Kino release, the extras are great, not the commentary but the Buñuel's son interview, Juan Luis, which i find very informative to understand what happened to the relation between the two artiist after they work toghether.
Watch it all over and over and...