Movie Review: Un Chien Andalou (The Andalusian Dog
Un Chien Andalou (The Andalusian Dog) is a Spanish film scripted by Salvado Dali and directed by Luis Bunuel. The film which runs for only seventeen minutes consists of surreal and bizarre images which may represent some hidden insights or may be used to represent nothing at all. Some of the key happenings in this movie include a straight razor being placed through a woman’s eyes, the slitting open of a cow’s eyes , the obscuring of the moon by the formation of a small cloud and a woman poking at a severed hand in the street with a cane. Other scenes is where a man drags two huge pianos that contain rotting and dead donkeys as well as live priests. There is also a man with a hole in his palm from where ants emerge. The key characters in the movie includes an identified man with a razor blade, a woman whose eye are sliced. There is also a man with a hole in his hand, and a woman who becomes sexually abused. The content of the film was inspired by the dreams of Banuel in 1983 while he was in Spain.
Among the issues explored in this movie is sexual assault. There is a scene where a woman is seen protecting herself from a man who wants to rape her. The potential rapist pulls the piano with its wacky load. From the depiction of this event on sexual abuse, it may appear that this phenomena and culture was tolerated in Spanish culture. Sexual abuse is also a common problem in U.S where woman who have undergone sexual rape are reported each year.
The The Andaluian Dog seems not to have a clear theme or any sense. The films intent is to shock the audience and there is no doubt that they succeed in this endeavor. I like this movie because it presents surprising images, a feature that makes the film deviate from other mainstream movies. The film made me reflect how other films have taught us to find meaning even if that meaning does not exist. Another lesson I learnt from this movie is that the speaking culture in Spain may be unstructured. In other words, the Spanish may engage in a conversation without having an intention of communicating in anything. I will surely recommend this film to future generation of Spanish since it is interesting to watch. The film is specifically important for those interested in cinema.
