The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
(Le charme discret de la bourgeoisie)
With Fernando Rey, Delphine Seyrig, Paul Frankeur.
France, 1972, DCP, color, 101 min.
French with English subtitles.
DCP source: Rialto Pictures
An admirer of Luis Buñuel’s work, Seyrig sought out the Spanish director—who was immediately struck by her beauty—and was promptly cast in a small part in The Milky Way (1969). Buñuel was fascinated by her apparently bourgeois look and refined manner, which made her a perfect fit for his droll skewering of the entitled in The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie. A married women in an affair with an ambassador played by Fernando Rey, Seyrig’s Simone is part of a crew of six friends consistently sidetracked from enjoying their meal, their minor dramas gradually unveiled in surreal digressions and meta-dream sequences that elude neat interpretation. Performing alongside Bulle Ogier and Stéphane Audran—two other iconic French actresses of the time—Seyrig and company are intentionally vacant characters, wandering complacently down a road to some unknown or perhaps nonexistent destination.
Part of film series
Upcoming screenings from this program
Last Year at Marienbad
The Garden That Tilts
Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles
Be Pretty and Shut Up
