The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie

At once idealistic and surreal, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie is a social satire directed by Luis Buñuel, one of European film’s great artistic pioneers.

An ambassador and his wife and two other bourgeois couples sit down to dine together and make every attempt to retain their postures and appearance against unusual distractions. The absurdly elegant and unruffled manner with which they greet every disturbance — from an army at the door to finding themselves onstage before an audience — forms the core of the film’s comedy.

Part of our French Film Festival, supported by the Albertine Cinematheque, a program of FACE Foundation and Villa Albertine, with support from the CNC / Centre National du Cinema, and SACEM / Fonds Culturel Franco-Américain.

Winner of the 1973 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film

“Combines a masterful command of the medium with a mischievous, anarchic sense of imaginative freedom.” — A.O. Scott, The New York Times

“Most of the films of Luis Buñuel are comedies in one way or another, but he doesn’t go for gags and punch lines; his comedy is more like a dig in the ribs, sly and painful.” — Roger Ebert The 4K restoration was produced by Studiocanal in 2022 with the support of the CNC (Centre National du Cinéma et de l’Image Animée).

Restoration work was carried out by the L’Image Retrouvée laboratory using elements stored in the French Film Archives. The original 35mm negative was scanned in 4K on Arriscan and, for certain parts of the negative that were too badly damaged, an interpositive was used to optimize the reproduction of the film in its original quality. Scratches, physical deteriorations, and dust have been erased frame by frame. The color grading was done with reference to the original 35mm elements in order to respect the image as supervised by the film’s director of photography Edmond Richard. The soundtrack has been restored from the original mix to recreate a sound consistent with the period.

Film website: www.rialtopictures.com/catalogue/the-discreet-charm-of-the-bourgeoisie

In French with English subtitles