Encyclopedia of French Film Directors

156 • BUÑUEL, LUIS
Jarry à Montmartre (documentary; short; also
screenwriter)
Black Power (documentary; short; also screenwriter)
1973 Au Rendez-vous de la Mort joyeuse / USA: Expulsion
of the Devil (also screenwriter; France
/ Italy)
1974 La mujer con botas rojas / La Femme aux Bottes
rouges / La ragazza con gli stivali rossi / La ragazza
dagli stivali rossi / Canada: The Lady with
Red Boots / USA: The Woman with Red Boots
(also screenwriter, co-adapter; Spain / France
/ Italy)
1975 Leonor (also co-screenwriter; France / Spain
/ Italy)
1980 La Coupole (documentary)
1986 La rebelion de los colgados (Mexico)
1989 Rêve à Barcelone ou Gaudi (documentary;
short)
1990 Guanajuato, una leyenda (documentary; short;
also screenwriter; Mexico)
1991 Chile: Les Années de Change (documentary, also
screenwriter)
2007 Calanda—40 Ans après (documentary; short;
also screenwriter)
Television Filmography
1977 Les Héritiers (episode “Photos de Famille”)
1980 Fantômas (4 86'; also co-screenwriter;
episodes “L’Etreinte du Diable,” “Le Mort qui
tue”; France / West Germany)
Les Héritiers (episode “Ressac”)
1981 Histoires extraordinaires: Le joueur d’Echecs de
Maelzel / El jugador de Ajedrez (also co-screenwriter;
France / Spain)
Les Héritiers (episode “Les Brus”)
1982 De bien étranges Affaires (episode “Un Homme
ordinaire”)
1983 L’Homme de la Nuit (4 52')
1984 Série noire (episode “Aveugle, que veux-tu?”)
1986 Série rose (28 26'; episode “Le Libertin de
Qualité”)
Tropique du Crabe / El tropico del cangrejo
(France / Argentina)
You’ll Never See Me Again (UK)
La Révolte des Pendus
1988 The Devil’s Lair (medium-length)
1991 Haute Tension (episode “Adriana”)
1992 Fantômes en Héritage (TV miniseries)
1996 Barrage sur l’Orénoque
BUÑUEL, LUIS (Luis Buñuel Portoles / February
22, 1900, Calanda, Spain–July 29, 1983, Mexico, D.F.
Mexico)
The son of wealthy landowners, he was educated by
Jesuit priests. He studied natural science at the University
of Madrid, where he befriended Salvador Dali
and Federico García Lorca. In 1920, he created one
of the fi rst European fi lm clubs. He went to France
in 1925 to enroll in the Académie du Cinéma. The
frequenting of surrealists marked him for the rest of
his life. He entered fi lms as assistant director (1926
Mauprat, Jean Epstein; 1927 La Sirène des Tropiques /
UK and USA: The Siren of the Tropics, Henri Etiévant,
Mario Nalpas; 1928 La Chute de la Maison Usher /
UK and USA: The Fall of the House of Usher, also
co-screenwriter, co-adapter Jean Epstein) and actor
(1926 Carmen, Jacques Feyder). Having returned to
Spain in the early 1930s, he worked as executive
producer (1936 Madrid 36 / Espana / Espana leal
en armas, documentary, also screenwriter, author
of commentary, editorial supervisor, Jean-Paul Le
Chanois; ¿Quien mi quiere a mi?, also supervisor, José
Luis Sáenz de Heredia, Spain; 1937 ¡Centinela, alerta!,
also supervisor, Jean Grémillon, Spain). A Republican
during the Civil War, he was sent to the USA by the
Republic’s government in 1938. He stayed in America
after the victory of General Franco and landed a job
as archivist and fi lm librarian at the MGM shorts department.
In 1946, he went to Mexico, where he met
producer Oscar Dancigers, who fi nanced several of
his fi lms. He co-wrote Si usted no puede, yo si (Julián
Soler, Mexico, 1951) and occasionally appeared as
actor in motion pictures (1964 Llanto por un bandido
/ Les Bandits / La Charge des Rebelles / Cavlieri della
vendetta, Carlos Saura, Spain / France / Italy; 1965 En
este pueblo no hay ladrones, Albert Isaac, Mexico) and
as himself in the TV documentary Cinéastes de notre
Temps: Luis Buñuel (Robert Valey, 1964). His movie
Viridiana won the Cannes fi lm Festival Golden Palm
in 1962. Most of his movies of the 1960s and 1970s
were French productions. He co-authored an autobiography
with his favorite collaborator, screenwriter
Jean-Claude Carrière: 1982 Mon Dernier Soupir (Editions
Robert Laffont). His sons Rafael and Juan Luis
are also fi lmmakers. Other credits (as author of
original book): 1971 Una historia decente (short, Gerardo
Garcia, Spain); (as uncredited collaborator to
screenplay): 1971 Johnny Got His Gun (Dalton Trumbo,
USA); (as co-screenwriter, co-adapter): 1972 Le Moine