"A combination of zany wit and a teaspoon of class struggle"

Luis Bunel's and Jean-Caude Carriere's satirical, humorous look at the upper class, religion, and the military begins with a group of friends, consisting of the South American Ambassador from Madina, Don Rafael (Fernando Rey), a businessman, M. Thevenot (Paul Frankeur) and his wife, Mme Thevenot (Delphine Seyrig) and his sister-in-law, Florence (Bulle Ogier) all going over to have dinner with their friends, M.Senechal (Jeaqn-Pierre Cassel) and Alice Senechal (Stephanie Audran).

They are greeted at the front door by the maid, Ines (Milena Vukotic) and the Mistress of the home, Alice, comes down, dressed in her house robe, who graciously greets them, but is very much surprised to see them, as they were supposed to come over the next evening.

This misunderstanding can happen to anyone, no matter what class you belong to, but stranger and stranger events befall them throughout the movie, making this film quite unique, and entertainingly funny.

Between all their interrupted meals together, little side sequences of plotline inform the audience more about the underlying characters of these people, including their vices, as they meet various people, like Bishop Mgr Dufor (Julien Bertheau) who come uninvited into their social circle, which later explains some of these interruptions, some of which are real, and some are the product of these peoples' imaginations. Worries and guilty consciences can inspire unpleasant visual reality and unreality - Can the audience discern the difference?

Periodically, the audience sees these 6 people walking along a road together, inbetween various parts of the story, which expresses the idea that these people are on life odysey.

Luis Bunuel, known as the father of cinematic Surrealism, and one of the most original directors, doesn't disappoint as he does an excellent job in creating a classic comedy, whose pacing and humor holds up very well 30 years later.

Brunel, along with Jean-Claude Carriere wrote this interesting screenplay, and directed THE DISCREET CHARM OF THE BOURGEOISIE toward the end of his long career, at the age of 72. His strict Jesuit education in Spain had an adverse effect on him, fostering his tendancy to be critical of the church and upper middle class, often with biting, satirical humor, obsessing a bit on subversive behavior along the way, which is seen in all his films.

Politically, Brunel was an anarchist who disliked the military and mistrusted governments. When TRISTANA, a film that was nominated for a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar in 1971, this great anarchist made the comment, "Nothing would disgust me more, morally, than receiving an Oscar."

True to form, all these elements can be found in THE DISCREET CHARM OF THE BOURGEOISIE, but not in a preachy, heavy-handed way, but in a unique,drole film making style that Bunuel created.

The casting for this film was superb, as the cast worked beautifully together, each portraying their character perfectly.

The talented Spanish actor Fernando Rey, skillfully portrays the shady South American Ambassador from Madina, Don Rafael, who was Brunel's favorite actor who he gave three plumb parts in his outstanding films: TRISTANA, VIRIDIANA, and THAT OBSCURE OBJECT OF DESIRE. Amereican audiences remember Fernando Rey as the elusive drug kingpin "Frog One" in the film, THE FRENCH CONNECTION.

Stephanie Audran is very convincing as the unflappable hostess, Alice Senechal, who never looses her emotional composure, even when faced with nightmare situations that would make most dinner hostesses panic. No matter what the cicumstances, Alice is gracious and hospitable throughout the film.

Jean-Pierre Cassel is a fine comedic actor who puts his all into his portrayal of M Snechal. To American audiences, he became well known for his portrayal of the "bumbling King Louis XIII " in Richard Lester's THE THREE MUSKETEERS and THE FOUR MUSKETEERS.

Julien Bertheau does a great job playing the Mgr Dufor, the Catholic priest who wants to be a worker Bishop by becoming the Seneachal's gardener.

Paul Frankeur, who started his career as a supporting actor in early 1940's, is enjoyable in his supporting actor portrayal of the affable yet clueless M. Thevenot, who is unaware of his wife's indiscretions.