The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
A group of affluent friends finds its carefully maintained dinner rituals repeatedly invaded by surreal disruptions that puncture bourgeois respectability.
Overview
A dinner party spirals into chaos as the upper class confronts the absurdity of their lives.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Moderate
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- None
- witty
- deadpan
- surreal
- arthouse film night
- surrealist cinema marathon
What critics said
Critics broadly regard Buñuel's accessible surrealist comedy as exceptionally funny, assured, perfectly acted, and sharply satirical.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The bourgeois friends repeatedly organize dinner while their manners, status, diplomacy, and concealed improprieties become the objects of ridicule.
The dinner plot is repeatedly derailed by unusual occurrences and explicitly dreamlike sequences, including a nightmare involving cockroaches.
Diplomats and affluent couples cling to etiquette and expected dining behavior while drug trafficking, fear, desire, and absurd intrusions undermine their composure.
The film's dinner-party comedy remains elegant and fast-moving even as interruptions become increasingly strange, threatening, and psychologically unsettling.
Films like The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, and why
The Exterminating Angel
Shares surrealist comedy, bourgeois social satire, and escalating disruptions of ordinary social rituals.
Viridiana
Shares Luis Buñuel's dream logic, anticlerical satire, and absurdist critique of respectable society.
The Lobster
Shares surreal comedy, fractured reality, and sharply satirical treatment of affluent social conventions.
The Celebration
Shares dinner-party absurdity, upper-class hypocrisy, and darkly comic surrealism.
Movie Details
- Director
- Luis Buñuel
- Release Date
- 1972-09-15
- Runtime
- 101 min
- Rating
- 7.5 / 10 (946)
Cast
- Fernando Rey
- Delphine Seyrig
- Paul Frankeur
- Stéphane Audran
- Bulle Ogier
- Jean-Pierre Cassel
- Julien Bertheau
- Claude Piéplu
- Michel Piccoli
- François Maistre
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- BFI Player Amazon Channel
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie about?
- A group of affluent friends finds its carefully maintained dinner rituals repeatedly invaded by surreal disruptions that puncture bourgeois respectability.
- What is The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie as brisk, its intensity as moderate and its storytelling as layered.
- Is The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie violent?
- No — Ember's analysis finds no violence in The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie.
- What did critics think of The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie?
- Critics broadly regard Buñuel's accessible surrealist comedy as exceptionally funny, assured, perfectly acted, and sharply satirical.
- Which films are like The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie?
- Films with a similar feel include The Exterminating Angel, Viridiana, The Lobster, and The Celebration.
- How long is The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie?
- The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie runs 101 minutes.
- Where can I watch The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie?
- In United States, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie streams on BFI Player Amazon Channel.
