That Obscure Object of Desire (French: Cet obscur objet du désir; Spanish: Ese oscuro objeto del deseo) is a 1977 film directed by Luis Buñuel. Set in Spain and France against the backdrop of a terrorist insurgency, the film tells the story of an aging Frenchman who falls in love with a young woman who repeatedly frustrates his romantic and sexual desires. Written by Buñuel with long-time collaborator Jean-Claude Carrière, it is based on the French novel La Femme et le pantin (The Woman and the Puppet) by Pierre Louÿs, although many changes were made for the screenplay.
Synopsis
This is the story of a dysfunctional[citation needed] and sometimes violent romantic relationship between Mathieu (played by Fernando Rey), a middle-aged, wealthy Frenchman, and Conchita (played by Carole Bouquet and Angela Molina), a young, impoverished and beautiful flamenco dancer from Seville. This film is unique in that two actresses play one character: Conchita, each appearing unpredictably in separate scenes. Not only are they physically different, but temperamentally as well, adding dimension and mystery to the character.
Most of the film is a flashback told by Mathieu with additional non-flashback elements shown only at the start and end of the film.
The movie begins with Mathieu travelling by train from Seville to Paris. He's trying to distance himself from his young girlfriend Conchita. As Mathieu's train is ready to depart he finds that a bruised and bandaged Conchita is pursuing him. From the train he pours a bucket of water over her head. He believes this deters her, but she sneaks aboard.
Mathieu's fellow compartment passengers witness his rude act. These include a mother and her young daughter, a judge who is coincidentally a friend of Mathieu's cousin, and a psychologist who coincidentally is a dwarf. They inquire about his motivation for such an act and he then explains the history of his tumultuous relationship with Conchita. The story is set against a backdrop of terrorist bombings and shootings.
Conchita, who claims to be 18 but looks older, vows to remain a virgin until marriage. However, she tantalizes Mathieu with sexual promises but never allows him to satisfy his sexual desire for her. At one point she goes to bed with him wearing what appear to be a pair of tightly laced canvas shorts, making it impossible for the couple to have sexual intercourse. Conchita's antics cause the couple to break up and reunite repeatedly, each time frustrating and confusing Mathieu.
Eventually, Mathieu finds Conchita dancing nude for tourists in a Seville nightclub. At first he becomes enraged. Later, however, he forgives her and buys her a house. The movie's climax arrives when, soon after moving into the house, Conchita tells Mathieu that she hates him and that kissing and touching him make her sick. She then appears to have sex with a young man in plain view of Mathieu to prove her independence from him.
After this, Conchita attempts to reconcile with Matthieu, insisting that the sex was fake and that her "lover" is in reality a homosexual friend. However, during her explanation, Mathieu beats her (she then says "Now I´m sure you love me"), causing her bandaged and bruised state earlier in the film.
Just as the fellow train passengers seem satisfied with this story, Conchita reappears from hiding on the train and dumps a bucket of water on Mathieu. However, the couple apparently reconciles yet again when the train reaches its destination. After leaving the train, they walk arm in arm, enjoying the streets of Paris.
At that moment loudspeakers blare the news that a strange alliance of extremist groups intend to sow a state of confusion in society through terrorist attacks. The announcement adds that several right-wing groups plan to counterattack.
As the couple continues their walk, they notice a seamstress in a shop window mending a bloody veil. They begin arguing just as a bomb explodes, apparently claiming their lives.
Casting
Spanish actor Fernando Rey (who frequently worked with Buñuel in his later years) plays Mathieu, but his voice is dubbed by Michel Piccoli.
The film is notable for its use of two actresses, Carole Bouquet and Angela Molina, in the single role of Conchita; the actresses switch roles in alternate scenes and sometimes even in the middle of scenes (at one point, Molina walks behind a curtain and Bouquet emerges a second later). Many film critics believe this to be an example of Buñuel's surrealist sensibilities, arguing that the odd use of casting highlights Conchita's mercurial nature.[citation needed]
In his autobiography My Last Sigh (1983), Buñuel explains (pp. 46-47) the decision to use two actresses to play Conchita:
"In 1977, in Madrid, when I was in despair after a tempestuous argument with an actress who'd brought the shooting of That Obscure Object of Desire to a halt, the producer, Serge Silberman, decided to abandon the film altogether. The considerable financial loss was depressing us both until one evening, when we were drowning our sorrows in a bar, I suddenly had the idea (after two dry martinis) of using two actresses in the same role, a tactic that had never been tried before. Although I made the suggestion as a joke, Silberman loved it, and the film was saved."
The book does not identify the actress who had caused the "tempestuous argument," though Bunuel makes it clear (p. 250) that she was neither Carole Bouquet nor Angela Molina.
In Luis Bunuel: The Complete Films (2005), editors Bill Krohn and Paul Duncan identify the actress as Maria Schneider, writing (pp. 177-78) the following in regard to the idea of using two actresses to play Conchita:
"... Bunuel found himself proposing it to Silberman when it became clear after three days of shooting that Maria Schneider was indeed not going to be able to play the part. Carole Bouquet and Angela Molina stepped in ..."
Krohn and Duncan indicate (p. 176) that the film almost didn't get made. After completing The Phantom of Liberty (1974) Bunuel decided he was too ill to make any more films. Silberman and Carriere talked him out of quitting. That Obscure Object of Desire launched Carole Bouquet's career and propelled her to international stardom.
The switching of actresses often goes unnoticed by many of those watching[citation needed], is an example of the psychological phenomenon of Change blindness.[1]
Responses
The film was not financially successful, but it became a critical favorite, garnering Best Foreign Language Film nominations at both the Golden Globes and the Academy Awards (where it was also nominated for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium) but failing to win at either. The critics associations were slightly more generous, with the National Board of Review, and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association both giving the it Best Foreign Language Film awards in 1977. Luis Buñuel won Best Director at the National Board of Review and National Society of Film Critics awards. He was also nominated at the French César Awards.
Sources
References
- Warren, Jeff (2007). The Head Trip: Adventures on the Wheel of Consciousness, Random House, p. 137. ISBN 978-1-4000-6484-7
External links
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