SIFF Movie Club: The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
November 9, 2026
SIFF Movie Club
4K restoration. A group of six friends - three men and three women decidedly of the French Upper Middle Class - have their dinner plans continually interrupted due to a series of bizarre events that can only be described as Buñuelian.
Intro by Graphic Design Manager Rhys Iliakis.
4K restoration. A group of six friends - three men and three women decidedly of the French Upper Middle Class - have their dinner plans continually interrupted due to a series of bizarre events that can only be described as Buñuelian.
Intro by Graphic Design Manager Rhys Iliakis.
Luis Buñuel orchestrates consistent unpredictability through narrative pivots and tonal shifts in his satirical masterpiece that won France an Oscar for International Feature Film and received a nomination for Original Screenplay, co-written by Jean-Claude Carrière. A series of happenings sewn together amid a relatively consistent motif is driven by the six French bourgeois who persistently pursue a dinner plan that is repeatedly interrupted by random incidents. In this repetitive digression, the value of the earnest pursuit becomes trivial, exposing the absurdity of the characters’ thoughtless actions. — Academy Museum of Motion Pictures
- Original Language Title: Le charme discret de la bourgeoisie
- Director: Luis Buñuel
- Principal Cast: Fernando Rey, Paul Frankeur, Delphine Seyrig, Bulle Ogier
- Country: France, Italy
- Year: 1972
- Running Time: 102 min.
- Producer: Serge Silberman
- Screenplay: Jean-Claude Carrière, Luis Buñuel
- Cinematographers: Edmond Richard
- Editors: Hélène Plemiannikov
- Language: French and Spanish with English Subtitles
- Has Subtitles: Yes
- US Distributor: Rialto Pictures