That Obscure Object of Desire

Play trailer

That Obscure Object of Desire

R

1977

1h 43m

Drama

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

97%

Tomatometer

34 Reviews

90%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

After dumping a bucket of water on a beautiful young woman from the window of a train car, wealthy Frenchman Mathieu (Fernando Rey), regales his fellow passengers with the story of the dysfunctional relationship between himself and the young woman in question, a fiery 19-year-old flamenco dancer named Conchita (played alternately by Carole Bouquet and Angela Molina). What follows is a tale of cruelty, depravity and lies -- the very building blocks of love.

Watch on Fandango at Home

Stream Now

Critics Consensus

That Obscure Object of Desire is a frequently unsettling treatise on the quixotic nature of lust and love.

Read Critics Reviews

Pauline Kael

The New Yorker

09/18/2023

The special quality of Bunuel’s late, storyteller’s style is that there are no layers, nothing hidden; that’s what makes it so serene.

Go to Full Review

Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

07/27/2012

4/4

[Bunuel's] film is filled with small, droll touches, with tiny peculiarities of behavior, with moral anarchy, with a cynicism about human nature that somehow seems, in his hands, almost cheerful.

Go to Full Review

Ed Gonzalez

Slant Magazine

09/17/2003

4/4

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

Go to Full Review

Dennis Harvey

48 Hills

07/18/2023

She may be a maddening sphinx—but Buñuel seems to suggest that his alter ego does, indeed, deserve just such treatment.

Go to Full Review

Kevin Kouns

Gay Community News (Boston)

08/18/2022

Anyone who does not understand that this is comedy of manners, and that Bunuel’s slant is distinctly Marxist, will naturally find the film mostly incoherent.

Go to Full Review

Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

01/24/2021

3/4

If this sounds rather conventional for Buñuel, be aware that the role of the temptress is played by not one but two actresses.

Go to Full Review

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

POST RATING

Luis Buñuel

Director

Fernando Rey

Mathieu

Carole Bouquet

Conchita

Ángela Molina

Conchita

Julien Bertheau

Judge

Milena Vukotic

Woman in train

The Other Side of Midnight

25%

73%

The Other Side of Midnight

Watchlist

Ash Wednesday

9%

23%

Ash Wednesday

Watchlist

Belle de Jour

95%

85%

Belle de Jour

Watchlist

Pretty Baby

70%

58%

Pretty Baby

Watchlist

Taxi Driver

89%

93%

Taxi Driver

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Taxi Driver

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

Synopsis

After dumping a bucket of water on a beautiful young woman from the window of a train car, wealthy Frenchman Mathieu (Fernando Rey), regales his fellow passengers with the story of the dysfunctional relationship between himself and the young woman in question, a fiery 19-year-old flamenco dancer named Conchita (played alternately by Carole Bouquet and Angela Molina). What follows is a tale of cruelty, depravity and lies -- the very building blocks of love.

Director: Luis Buñuel
Producer: Serge Silberman
Screenwriter: Luis Buñuel, Jean-Claude Carrière, Pierre Louÿs
Distributor: Rialto Pictures, Criterion Collection
Rating: R
Genre: Drama
Original Language: Canadian French
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 8, 1977, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 29, 2013
Box Office (Gross USA): $55.3K
Runtime: 1h 43m