"That Obscure Object of Desire" begins with an old man dumping a bucket of water onto a beautiful young woman who approaches him on a train ride.
Mathieu (Fernando Rey), who appears to be a refined, impeccably dressed gentleman, quickly explains the gesture to the confused fellow passengers. He explains that the woman he drenched is Conchita, a cruel, manipulative temptress who has tormented him for years.
In flashback, the film by director Luis Buñuel tells the fractured story of Mathieu's unrequited love. We meet Mathieu as a well-to-do man who is either a widower or long separated from his wife. He has more money and free time than he'll ever need, and he seems to regard life with vague disinterest. Then instantly he springs to life at the first sight of Conchita, a demure maid who rejects his lustful proposition.
It's obsession at first sight.
People are also reading…
Mathieu grudgingly bids farewell but somehow knows he will see her again. The film catalogs his encounters with the elusive dreamgirl. Mathieu runs into her on the street after he's mugged by her young male friends, then seeks to become her caretaker and boyfriend. He meets her controlling mother, who's looking for a handout. Eventually, Mathieu becomes Conchita's steady companion and even lives with her, but she remains distant, never allowing him to realize his sexual desire.
"That Obscure Object of Desire" is about Mathieu's self-torture over that which he will never have. His wealth, experience and rhetoric are but hole-filled nets in his desperate, flailing efforts to capture this butterfly. His story is as much black comedy as tragedy.
Buñuel (1900-1983), a Spaniard who did much of his work in French, was a master of surrealism and torturing his characters with unquenchable desire. He started his film career with the landmark short "Un Chien Andalou" (1929) — famous for bizarre imagery, such as the slicing of an eyeball — which he made in a collaboration with Salvador Dali. The director went on to make film-school must-sees such as "Belle de jour" (1967), about a housewife who moonlights as a prostitute; and "The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie" (1972), in which oblivious upper-middle-class socialites are continually interrupted in their attempt to sit down for a meal.
Buñuel made often perverse, always subversive films that drew protests, bans and undying appreciation from colleagues.
In casting his final film, "That Obscure Object of Desire," Buñuel ran into problems with Maria Schneider, his original choice to play Conchita. After she left, he cast two other actresses, Carole Bouquet and Angela Molina, to share the part.
It was as if the gesture was to thumb his nose at Schneider, insisting any two faces could replace her. Or maybe Buñuel was just messing with the audience. With the tantalizing, paradoxical films of Buñuel, you can never quite tell.
That Obscure Object of Desire (1977). Rated R. Starring Fernando Rey. Directed by Luis Buñuel. 102 minutes. In French and Spanish, with subtitles. Available on DVD. For links to other reviews in the series, go to www.azstarnet.com/sn/review.
