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

The last film of surrealist master Luis Bunuel earned him his second Oscar nomination but amazingly he never grabbed on of the coveted statues. Here the object of desire is a woman lusted after by Fernando Rey. Said object is portrayed by tow actresses and is in my opinion one of the greatest examples of film snobs and critics reading themes into the work which were never there. Conchita was originally played by Carole Bouquet but when she quit half way through production Bunel brought Angela Molina in as a replacement. The nature of Bunuel's work made many believe this was intentional to reresent different aspects of the Conchita character when it was merely circumstancial logistics. Just the same, it has an interesting effect and while the slow moving action unfolds around the growing actions of terrorist bombers we are presented with one of the most powerful endings in any of Bunuel's work. Profound imagery and direction this is a special film but will not be to the taste of all.