Prior to the first class, I, along with many other students as it turned out did not
necessarily have a proclivity for the titular director of this course. After reading his
review of Buster Keaton’s College and an excerpt from one of his passages ‘The Comic
In Cinema’, his personality became much more apparent. Unlike many pretentious
filmmakers of his time, he seemed to embrace the artform in whatever shape it took and
cared more for a genuine film much more than one that was created for the purpose of
critical acclaim to to elicit one specific reaction from it’s audience. When describing
Keaton’s film College, Buñuel says that the film is “as beautiful as a bathroom”. This
quote taken out of context may seem to be a condescending and backhanded
compliment, but paired with the rest of his review reads as a film that serves an
irreplaceable purpose. A film that is not gauche and snobby, but rather a tad crude and
something that whether they will admit or not, everyone could use and enjoy. Upon
reading these two anecdotes, it seems that Buñuel has an unrivaled passion for the
medium of film, and not just for comedies either. After watching the documentary that
followed his firstborn son around places he frequented, we were presented with some
more dramaturgical of his films, proving that he was able to encompass a broad scope
of themes and scripts. Even winning the Palm d’Or in 1961 for his film Viridiana. Also
abundantly clear after watching the documentary was the caliber of people he
surrounded himself with. Everyone that was interviewed for the documentary, while
meticulously picked, seemed to have a genuine adoration and spoke extensively about
how he helped them to hone their craft. As well as how endless his lust for artistic
expression was. A true visionary.