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That Obscure Object of Desire (1977)

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Critic Reviews: 3
Fresh: 3 | Rotten: 0

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Adapted from Pierre Louys' 1898 novel La Femme et le Pantin, That Obscure Object of Desire is the 30th and final film from the great Luis Buñuel. Recounted in flashback to a group of railway travellers, the story wryly details the romantic perils of Mathieu (Buñuel favorite Fernando Rey), a wealthy, middle-aged French sophisticate who falls desperately in love with his 19-year-old former chambermaid Conchita. Thus begins a surreal game of sexual cat-and-mouse, with Mathieu obsessively attempting

R, 1 hr. 40 min.

Drama, Comedy

Luis Buñuel, Jean-Claude Carriere

Nov 20, 2001

First Artists

Cast

All Critics (27) | Top Critics (4) | Fresh (27) | Rotten (0) | DVD (11)

With an effortlessness matched by no other director today, Buñuel creates a vision of a world as logical as a theorem, as mysterious as a dream, and as funny as a vaudeville gag.

May 20, 2003 Full Review Source: New York Times | Comment
New York Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

One of the director's later works, That Obscure Object of Desire, examines the puzzle of sexual politics.

January 24, 2002 Full Review Source: Dallas Morning News | Comment
Dallas Morning News
Top Critic IconTop Critic

A mature commentary on the invisible line between passion and absurdity -- erotic, political, and religious.

August 16, 2001 Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly | Comment
Entertainment Weekly
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Buñuel finenesses the unrequited love between his characters with such a command of cinematic spontaneity and humanity that you could watch it a hundred times. Genius.

March 24, 2010 Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | Comment
ColeSmithey.com

Only Buñuel can make coldness burn with intoxicating sensuality.

October 10, 2009 Full Review Source: Film and Felt | Comment
Film and Felt

The swan song film for the legendary Spanish filmmaker.

July 24, 2009 Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | Comment
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Buñuel made often perverse, always subversive films that drew protests, bans and undying appreciation from colleagues.

May 6, 2007 Full Review Source: Arizona Daily Star | Comment
Arizona Daily Star

That Obscure Object of Desire is an intoxicating descent into one man's experience of the emotional terrorism intended to shake him from his ways.

July 12, 2005 Full Review Source: Reel Times: Reflections on Cinema | Comment
Reel Times: Reflections on Cinema

In the second rank of Bunuelian delights.

March 8, 2004 Comment

From Un Chien Andalou to That Obscure Object of Desire, Luis Buñuel spent almost 50 years cataloging the frustrated romantic desires of his characters.

September 17, 2003 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | Comment
Slant Magazine

This straightforward tale of obsessive love is colored with the always amazing Bunuelian touches.

July 30, 2003 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | Comment
TV Guide's Movie Guide

It may not be Luis Bunuel's best film, but this is probably his most complete statement on sexual relations and the dark side of desire.

July 23, 2003 Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | Comment
Apollo Guide

Buñuel's pot shots in That Object of Desire are well-planned provocative scenarios that show just how difficult it is to understand sexual desires.

October 16, 2002 Full Review Source: Old School Reviews | Comment
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for That Obscure Object of Desire

'what do I have to do? what do I have to do...to prove my love to you'

April 10, 2008
bookmunki

Super Reviewer

Now this is a lot of fun. Luis Bunuel's final film, "That Obscure Object of Desire" charts the relevant yet rocky terrain of passion vs. obsession and love vs. absurdity. Bunuel does some really intriguing things with casting, cross cutting stories and the actors have fun with their wacky and juxtapositional dialogue.

March 30, 2011
stevenecarrier
Steven Carrier

Super Reviewer

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Foreign Titles

  • That Obscure Object of Desire (Cet obscur objet du desir) (DE)
  • That Obscure Object of Desire (Cet obscur objet du desir) (UK)
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