L'Age D'Or

So, L'Age D'Or, for the most part, I didn't get. But, seeing as how it's an early surrealist collaboration between Bunuel and Dali, nobody is expected to, especially not on the first viewing. I did really enjoy the film though, the basic plot (at least what was navigable), the mood and atmosphere, the imagery were all great. I took some notes on what I think things stood for, and looking through writings on the film, I'm mostly wrong, based on the more commonly-accepted theories on the meanings of the film. However, I think, especially with works like this, it's important to aknowledge your gut instinct, what the film first means to you, apart from what may be true about it.

The first thing I really picked up on was the treatment of time throughout the piece. We're shown the Majorcans performing a religious ceremony in what looks to be the middle ages, then after an indiscernible amount of time, they're nothing more than skeletons. As a vigil is being held for them (I'd imagine), a young couple is heard attempting to consummate their relationship. The man is dragged off, and then an indiscernible amount of time passes again, and suddenly we're thrust into the same period that the film was made, the late 1920's. The man is still being dragged through the streets, despite hundreds of years passing. The woman still exists in this time too. This leads me to believe that Bunuel is trying to show that these are not simple human beings, of flesh and blood, but archetypes. But, archetypes of what, or whom? I think that they're symbolic of humankind's sexual urges, in that they're always there, in any time, always trying to express themselves, despite society trying to keep them doing it.

The man seems to be frustrated immensely by this. While being dragged around, he's constantly lashing out, be it by fighting his captors, kicking a dog, or squashing a bug on the beach. Little things on the street remind him of the woman, and ultimately, of his urges.

There's a sequence in the city, early on, depicting a statue of a man with something on his head. (A loaf of bread, it looks like?) Soon after, we see a man walk by with something similar on his own head. Is this symbolic of man's adaptations to his own surroundings, of his assimilation into the world?

The party sequence seems to be an attack on the bourgeoisie, although I can't put my finger on precisely why I arrive at that conclusion. I imagine it's just the atmosphere. These people are so uncaring towards the events unfolding around them, be it a horse-drawn carriage riding through the room, or a huge fire in the kitchen. However, when a man shoots a young boy outside, all the partygoers are very interested, and all crowd around to witness the aftermath. This doesn't last, and within moments, they're back to schmoozing again. I'm thinking that the shooting might be symbolic of sex, since a line is always drawn from sexual activities to murder, or death. Or, maybe it's just another attack on the bourgeoisie; they only put on the act of caring when it's of utter importance, when a young child has been killed, but they can't wait to get back to their own party.

Of course, as the man is finally within grasp of his coal of having sex with the woman, she decides that she'd rather be with the conductor, which says something about the fickleness of woman, or even people in general. Perhaps it's speaking of a woman's nature to be deceitful of the men around her, no matter how much she's given up in a situation. Or maybe she's just plain horny.

The scene after this is equally bizarre, as the man is seen throwing things out the window; a flaming tree, a Majorcan, some large horse/hammer-looking thing, a spear, and a wooden giraffe. Maybe this represents his rejection of things, like religion, or his own nature?

The final scene is extremely memorable. It takes place right after the Marquis De Sade's 120 Days of Sodom, in which 4 people took hostage dozens of young people, and tortured and raped them in a castle for 4 months. In this scene, the tormentors are shown emerging from the castle, and the first one is clearly meant to be Jesus Christ himself. If that's not an all-out attack on the Church, I don't know what is.

Of course, after reading about the film, I've come to find out it's widely accepted that it's not symbolic of sexual urges yearning to break free from society, but love itself. I can understand this, but I still think that it's an exploration of sex and human nature in general, in many ways