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I happened upon Luis Bunuel's Gran Casino by mistake ... twice! In a local video store I saw a puffed-up case for the 2-Disc Luis Bunuel Collectors Edition of Gran Casino / The Young Ones. Well, I'm not a "collector" but I've always considered myself a Bunuel fan, so it itched a little when I realized I hadn't heard of either of these films. "Hmph," ... I rented Big Daddy and went home.I decided later to Netflix The Young Ones because it sounded the more provocative of the two. But when the red envelope arrived at the house it was Gran Casino in that little white sleeve!!! Either Netflix screwed up, or it was some deliberate divine intervention (Prankster Bunuel playing nasty tricks next to god...). Disappointed, I still watched the film. What followed was my most bizarre Bunuel viewing experience.
Gran Casino is radical Bunuel in that it's conventional Bunuel. It is Bunuel as director-for-hire. Bunuel as studio hound. Bunuel as storyboard sketcher. Bunuel as low budget Michael Curtiz. It's also a musical ... and a sincere one. Actors Libertad Lamarque and Jorge Negrete perform three songs each. Negrete's are especially odd because of Bunuel's inclusion of a three man harmonizing chorus that mysteriously show up whenever Negrete breaks into song ... be that in jail, on an oil field, or in the casino.
**(Even stranger is the cover for this 2-disc set. It's a photo of Bunuel riding a camera crane like he's Joseph Mankiewicz underneath a subheading that reads "The Legendary Master of Surrealist Cinema". Fine, but to attach that tag with Gran Casino?)**
Despite these ordinary elements, ordinary plot points, and ordinary performances, watching Gran Casino gives you the impression Bunuel was having a blast. It was 1947, fourteen years since he made his last picture (Land Without Bread) and three years before unveiling his first masterwork (Los Olvidados). So Gran Casino served as the perfect punching bag for Bunuel to the tweak out the kinks.
By "punching bag" I don't mean to dismiss Gran Casino as slag. Not at all. It's true that the soapy romance, and "little man vs. big man" storyline tilt toward tedium, but there's enjoyment in watching this abstract technician go MOR in the straight man's system. It's Bunuel relearning the basics in order to unlearn them yet again: classical framing, musical tracking shots, set direction, lighting set-ups (if anything, Gran Casino at least looks beautiful). While none of this suggests Bunuel could hang with the Hollywood studio greats, it's still easy to imagine him whispering in his assistant's ear, "see, I could be Howard Hawks if wanted to."But who would've wanted him too??? I'm assuming that if you're a reader, or participant, of this Bunuel-a-thon that you've more than just a passed a glance at the man's films. You've probably enjoyed reading his eventful interviews, heard him laugh off critical readings, and shift ideological gears on a dime. You can't choose your film director obsessions, they just happen. So when you catch small benchmarks of his/her career along the way - event it's a minor work like Gran Casino - you feel obligated to stick a matchstick flag on the timeline and say "Hey, check this one out ... someday. I mean, you don't need to rush or anything, just don't forget about it." That's the kind of endorsement I'd like to leave in the ears of fellow Bunuel-a-freaks.
5 comments:
I'm interested in watching some more of Bunuel's films. All I've seen is Un Chien Andalou in a film class. But ever since I read - and this was ages ago - that Robbie Robertson was influenced by Bunuel early on, I've been intrigued. What should I add to the queue?
Nice write-up! And I agree, watching Gran Casino is a lot of fun! Thanks for joining the Blogathon.
I think Bunuel would have approved of the way you happened to see Gran Casino. He was obsessed with chance occurrences.
Attracted to the athiest position, Buñuel wrote in his autobiography: "Chance cannot be one of God's creations, because it's the negation of God." (2003:173)
With regard to the propriety of the tag on the DVD cover, no doubt Buñuel would have protested. He didn't much care for publicity. I know one incident where he was upset that the marquee poster billed him as the "cruelest director in the world." Fame has its drawbacks, not the least being inappropriate marketing.
really it's a amazing..have fun.keep it up.thanx.
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