Un Chien Andalou

No one can claim to be a true cinema buff without having seen this surrealist classic from 1929, the first film by director Luis Bu(uel (and his initial collaboration with artist Salvador Dali). The 17-minute piece begins with one of the most infamous shots in all of motion pictures--in which a woman's eye is sliced by a razor (wielded, appropriately enough, by Bu(uel himself) in extreme close-up--and then proceeds through a series of extravagantly imaginative images upon which many have tried (in vain) to impose a coherent narrative, but were intended merely to illustrate the essential irrationality and absurdity of human experience. Even the title, translated as An Andalusian Dog, is meaningless. After 75 years, the film doesn't carry the same original power to shock and disturb, and its once-daring experimental tropes may today even seem giddily old-fashioned, but Un Chien Andalou remains fascinating to watch not merely for its historical import, but also because its random episodes are still beguilingly strange and thought-provoking. Bowing on DVD with a crisp-looking transfer, extras here include a rather pedantic audio commentary by “surrealism expert” Stephen Barber, and a revealing interview with Bu(uel's son Juan-Luis, who speaks engagingly about his father. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. (F. Swietek)