Abstract
This study explores the role of liminality and Surrealism in Luis Bunuel’s The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie. By taking into consideration the relationship between Surrealism, Marxism and Freud, this paper identifies the role of the liminal and Bunuel’s treatment of these topics. The purpose of this study is to examine the use of liminal space and Surrealism to identify the role of the bourgeois and their fears through the lens of Bunuel.
Highlights
Dreams and visions have been connected to some of the most powerful and direct experiences between the living and the dead, and the afterlife or other world (Schmitt, 1994)
Whether it is the dead who enter the liminal space of dreams or it is humans who explore the unknown through their unconscious state, this transient state becomes a rite of passage for either group
It is noteworthy that Bunuel’s own feeling towards open spaces lends its hand to this form of constraint; perhaps the horror of this open space is the never-ending road to limbo. In this film, dreams as liminal spaces represent the limbo state of the bourgeoisie
Summary
Dreams and visions have been connected to some of the most powerful and direct experiences between the living and the dead, and the afterlife or other world (Schmitt, 1994). As part of its surreal transparency, the link between the dreams and death has crossed over culture, time, and space to manifest itself alongside traditional Shamanic journeys, in which dream states cross over into the unknown (Klaniczay & Pócs, 2005). Whether it is the dead who enter the liminal space of dreams or it is humans who explore the unknown through their unconscious state, this transient state becomes a rite of passage for either group. Their condition is one of ambiguity and paradox, a confusion of all the customary changes (Turner, 1967, p.94)
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