That Obscure Object of Desire (1977)

100% of critics liked it
(25 reviews)
89% of users liked it
(6,757 ratings)

Adapted from Pierre Louys' 1898 novel La Femme et le Pantin, That Obscure Object of Desire is the 30th and final film from the great Luis Buñuel. Recounted in flashback to a group of railway travellers, the story wryly details the romantic perils of Mathieu (Buñuel favorite Fernando Rey), a wealthy,… More Adapted from Pierre Louys' 1898 novel La Femme et le Pantin, That Obscure Object of Desire is the 30th and final film from the great Luis Buñuel. Recounted in flashback to a group of railway travellers, the story wryly details the romantic perils of Mathieu (Buñuel favorite Fernando Rey), a wealthy, middle-aged French sophisticate who falls desperately in love with his 19-year-old former chambermaid Conchita. Thus begins a surreal game of sexual cat-and-mouse, with Mathieu obsessively attempting to win the girl's affections as she manipulates his carnal desires, each vying to gain absolute control of the other. Brimming with the subversive wit which characterizes all of Buñuel's finest work, That Obscure Object of Desire takes satiric aim at a decadent, decaying society riddled by political unrest and moral bankruptcy. The picture is absurdist even in its casting -- Rey's dialogue was dubbed by the French actor Michel Piccoli, while the two-faced, hot-and-cold Conchita is played, logically enough, by two different actresses (Carole Bouquet and Angela Molina, respectively), with the character's dialogue spoken by yet a third performer. The same Louys novel was also filmed by Josef von Sternberg in 1935 as the Marlene Dietrich vehicle The Devil Is a Woman, and again in 1959 as Julien Duvivier's La Femme et le Pantin, starring Brigitte Bardot. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 40 min.
Directed By: Luis Buñuel
Written By: Luis Buñuel, Jean-Claude Carriere
Genres: Drama, Comedy

In Theaters: Aug 17, 1977 Wide
On DVD: Nov 20, 2001
Studio: First Artists

Critic Reviews

Vincent Canby, New York Times
With an effortlessness matched by no other director today, Buñuel creates a vision of a world as logical as a theorem, as mysterious as a dream, and as funny as a vaudeville gag.
Gary Dowell, Dallas Morning News
One of the director's later works, That Obscure Object of Desire, examines the puzzle of sexual politics.
Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly
A mature commentary on the invisible line between passion and absurdity -- erotic, political, and religious.
Cole Smithey, ColeSmithey.com
Buñuel finenesses the unrequited love between his characters with such a command of cinematic spontaneity and humanity that you could watch it a hundred times. Genius.
Gabe Leibowitz, Film and Felt
Only Buñuel can make coldness burn with intoxicating sensuality.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
The swan song film for the legendary Spanish filmmaker.
Phil Villarreal, Arizona Daily Star
Buñuel made often perverse, always subversive films that drew protests, bans and undying appreciation from colleagues.
Mark Pfeiffer, Reel Times: Reflections on Cinema
That Obscure Object of Desire is an intoxicating descent into one man's experience of the emotional terrorism intended to shake him from his ways.
Jake Euker, F5 (Wichita, KS)
In the second rank of Bunuelian delights.
Ed Gonzalez, Slant Magazine
From Un Chien Andalou to That Obscure Object of Desire, Luis Buñuel spent almost 50 years cataloging the frustrated romantic desires of his characters.
, TV Guide's Movie Guide
This straightforward tale of obsessive love is colored with the always amazing Bunuelian touches.
Derek Smith, Apollo Guide
It may not be Luis Bunuel's best film, but this is probably his most complete statement on sexual relations and the dark side of desire.
John A. Nesbit, Old School Reviews
Buñuel's pot shots in That Object of Desire are well-planned provocative scenarios that show just how difficult it is to understand sexual desires.

Read all 13 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Stefanie C

'what do I have to do? what do I have to do...to prove my love to you'
Steven C

Now this is a lot of fun. Luis Bunuel's final film, "That Obscure Object of Desire" charts the relevant yet rocky terrain of passion vs. obsession and love vs. absurdity. Bunuel does some really intriguing things with casting, cross cutting stories and the actors have… More
Now this is a lot of fun. Luis Bunuel's final film, "That Obscure Object of Desire" charts the relevant yet rocky terrain of passion vs. obsession and love vs. absurdity. Bunuel does some really intriguing things with casting, cross cutting stories and the actors have fun with their wacky and juxtapositional dialogue. I love movies about 'emotional terrorism' and this is one of the earlier films to probe the theme. It's funny, timely (even though it was released in 1977) and intriguing.
Pierluigi P

Luis Buñuel's swan song is as delightful, vigorous, loudly cynic, rich and subversive as his other grand works. Fernando Rey, Carole Bouquet and Angela Molina are simply wonderful. masterpiece of imagery and eroticism.