Un Chien Andalou (An Andalusian Dog) (1928)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Alexander D

  
  Brief, silent surrealism known infamously for only one image: a razor slicing open an eye. Though questionable and disturbing, this is one of the only enjoyable silent films I have seen. Salvador Dali's artistic ability makes the film great, if only 16 minutes long.

• Spencer S

  
  I just kept saying out loud, over and over, "What the hell am I watching?" Sure, it made me think more than many longer and plot filled movies have, but overall I was unnerved from the strange, dreamlike events that transpired.

• AJ V

  
  Disturbingly brilliant. This movie takes the idea that film is presented like a dream, and make a film which is literally based on the film maker's dreams (the sleeping kind, that is.). You have to see it to believe it. If you like experimental movies, you'll love this.

• _kelly .

  
  I can very clearly see how this short film inspired David Lynch throughout his career, and I appreciate the influence it has had on scores of other brilliant film-makers. HOWEVER, I was not moved or jarred in the slightest. Perhaps I am defective in some essential way, or perhaps my… More
  I can very clearly see how this short film inspired David Lynch throughout his career, and I appreciate the influence it has had on scores of other brilliant film-makers. HOWEVER, I was not moved or jarred in the slightest. Perhaps I am defective in some essential way, or perhaps my mind is too saturated with the bold surrealist works that have come since, but I did not emote one iota when I viewed this film last night. For this, I am sorely depressed. I will say that it was mesmerizing, almost hypnotic, at moments and maybe this is a sign that I am on the correct path to being compelled by this film. I will see it again at some point down the line in hopes I will have a more profound experience.

• Michael G

  
  Um... I'm sure the fact that I saw this at 4:30 in the morning, was in not in any mind of mood for interpretation and just wanted to go to bed play into this review, but... so what? I can appreciate that Un Chien Andalou was groundbreaking for its time (even if it paved the way… More
  Um... I'm sure the fact that I saw this at 4:30 in the morning, was in not in any mind of mood for interpretation and just wanted to go to bed play into this review, but... so what? I can appreciate that Un Chien Andalou was groundbreaking for its time (even if it paved the way for a lot of pretentious douchebags down the road) but I just couldn't really bring myself to be enthused. In the plus column, I was only... artsy hell for 15 minutes. I'm sure there's a great story behind this movie but I don't really care. Overall, kind of neat but just a big pile of whatever.

• Randy T

  
  Did people say "WTF" in 1929? Dali and Buñuel set out to defy convention and raise eyebrows. They succeeded. Even today, more than eighty years later, this film gives us a lot to think about.

• Conner R

  
  The most demented, violent and explicit film of the silent era. It touches on dozens upon dozens of taboo and controversial topics while also being just flat out bizarre. I think the main reason it is so great is the fact that it is so original and ahead of its time. You'll never… More
  The most demented, violent and explicit film of the silent era. It touches on dozens upon dozens of taboo and controversial topics while also being just flat out bizarre. I think the main reason it is so great is the fact that it is so original and ahead of its time. You'll never see a movie like it and it definitely inspired directors like Roman Polanski and David Lynch.

• Luke B

  
  Beautifully disturbing, surreal art. Some fantastic imagery that is yet to be replicated since. It's harsh, disturbing, confusing and utterly compelling. After all the Saw's and Hostels, nothing can match the eye-slitting for "What the fuck" grossness. Yet,… More
  Beautifully disturbing, surreal art. Some fantastic imagery that is yet to be replicated since. It's harsh, disturbing, confusing and utterly compelling. After all the Saw's and Hostels, nothing can match the eye-slitting for "What the fuck" grossness. Yet, it's combination with the shot of the moon, also makes it calming. For 15 minutes of something different, you should really check this out.

• Anthony L

  
  Pure celluloid art! Dali & Bunuel collaborate to create one of cinemas greatest experimental films. The scene with the eye ball and the moon is pure brilliance!

• Jennifer D

  
  Nice art film.

• Greg S

  
  Completely dreamlike and irrational short film featuring the infamous eyeball slitting scene. Enormously important historical document, and at only 17 minutes it never grows tiresome; everyone with even a passing interest in the art of film should take time out to see this.

• El Hombre I

  
  Eyes, ants, armpits, breasts, butt, hands, handguns, priests, pianos, dead donkeys and death's head moths. It carries themes of life, death, lust and love and continues to influence dark and disturbing images of filmmakers and movie-goers alike. All of this in 17 minutes.… More
  Eyes, ants, armpits, breasts, butt, hands, handguns, priests, pianos, dead donkeys and death's head moths. It carries themes of life, death, lust and love and continues to influence dark and disturbing images of filmmakers and movie-goers alike. All of this in 17 minutes. Now the Pixies' song Debaser makes a little sense...a little. <a href="http://s118.photobucket.com/albums/o93/elevenfreaks/NEW%20PICS/?action=view¤t=unchienandalou.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o93/elevenfreaks/NEW%20PICS/unchienandalou.jpg" border="0" alt="un chien andalou"></a>

• Kalel J

  
  More along the lines of an experiment in aesthetics rather than an ingrown example of cinema, Bunuel's innovative piece of surrealism is a film to admire for it's pioneering steps in the conversion of pictures to moving imagery. The film feels like the dabbings of a… More
  More along the lines of an experiment in aesthetics rather than an ingrown example of cinema, Bunuel's innovative piece of surrealism is a film to admire for it's pioneering steps in the conversion of pictures to moving imagery. The film feels like the dabbings of a paintbrush in a seemingly randomised portrait - cohesive elements of film and a leveled rythm are distinguished immediately as we are thrust into this strange world, alternating between memorable imagery and incongruous concepts. From beginning to end, Un Chien Andalou is filled with memorable imagery brought upon through an artist's insight into the cinematographic process. Dali's inflictions are felt throughout the iconic images of the eye splitting, the ant-ridden hand clutching through a door space, and the donkey corpse in the piano. The film never makes sense, but like all post-modernistic art - it doesn't need to. Instead, we are meant to sit and admire the visual implications of the film, rather than delve into it's non-existent philosophies. However, what truly pushes this short film further into the minds of film enthusiast's comes through it's stunning editing, where techniques seem to be at a first here. The film's claims to cinematography and editing alone make the film canonical for lovers of the medium. A technical masterpiece with translucent traditional film needs, Un Chien Andalou is a visual masterpiece in it's own right. The experiment pays off in the sense of pioneering film methods and burning images into the minds of the audience.

• Pierluigi P

  
  A milestone, the first surreal film. Buñuel and Dalí sliced an eye ball and opened a gate of boundless imagination.

• Sarah G

  
  Never quite seen something like this. The visulisations of the horse, hand with bugs coming out e.t.c. Beautifully shot for it's time, and the music also adds to the atmosphere within the mise-en-scene.

• Dillon L

  
  Another interesting piece of surrealism by famous french director Luis Bunuel. I imagine that this film was controversial when it came out, but I think Bunuel improved on this type of movie when he made L'Age d'Or the next year.

• Eric B

  
  The ants crawling out of a human palm. The crude breast and buttock squeezing. The donkey carcasses in the pianos. A woman's armpit hair displaced to a man's mouth. And, of course, the legendary eyeball-slicing. "Un Chien Andalou" is still strange and disturbing,… More
  The ants crawling out of a human palm. The crude breast and buttock squeezing. The donkey carcasses in the pianos. A woman's armpit hair displaced to a man's mouth. And, of course, the legendary eyeball-slicing. "Un Chien Andalou" is still strange and disturbing, even after 80 years of subsequent thrillers and horror movies. Few filmmakers have arrived with such a bold statement of purpose. All hail Luis Bu&ntilde;uel. Nobody ever did it better.

• Brandon S

  
  Luis Buenel's surrealist short, Un Chien Andalou, is one of the ultimate head scratchers of world cinema. There is simply no attempt made at constructing a traditional plot structure and one could only guess at the meaning. Just consider the following images: 1. A man finds… More
  Luis Buenel's surrealist short, Un Chien Andalou, is one of the ultimate head scratchers of world cinema. There is simply no attempt made at constructing a traditional plot structure and one could only guess at the meaning. Just consider the following images: 1. A man finds that his hand is decaying with ants crawling in and out and around. 2. One minute the same man is groping a young woman, mad with lust, the next next minute he's dragging a piano with a dead donkey, with pious clergy roped along for the ride. 3. We look on the street below to find a woman struck by a car, and a man biking in nuns clothing. All these wildly disparate images are juxtaposed in a half hazard fashion, leaving the audience to decide what it all means if anything at all. The image jumps back in forth in time and place with no rhyme or reason and we are left to simply play catch up. My first instinct was that this film was an statement concerning the nature of lust and guilt, and an exploration into anxieties of a young artist. But it turns out that Bunuel and Dali are really just fucking with us. When asked about the film Bunuel stated that the nothing in the film symbolizes anything, and "the only method of investigation of the symbols would be, perhaps, psychoanalysis". This may all seem a bit frustrating but it's mystery is the attraction. We know from the opening sequence, one of film histories most notorious, that anything goes and everyone best pay close attention. It's shocking, thought provoking and endlessly fascinating as a cinematic ink blot.

• Joey S

  
  I like weird movies, but this was far too abstract and weird, even for me. Your experience with it really depends on how you interpret it, and this is a movie that would take a bit of interpreting to even vaguely understand.

• Matthew Y

  
  Like most famous films pre-1930, An Andalusian Dog is renowned for it's groundbreaking 'technical' aspect, but not for the level of enjoyment one has when watching it. The film was groundbreaking in it's day and is still one of the most infamous experimental films… More
  Like most famous films pre-1930, An Andalusian Dog is renowned for it's groundbreaking 'technical' aspect, but not for the level of enjoyment one has when watching it. The film was groundbreaking in it's day and is still one of the most infamous experimental films of all time. A film worth watching just because of it's significance rather than it's entertainment (heck, it's only 20mins or so). An Andalusian Dog does still get a fresh rating from me because the eyeball cutting scene looks authentic and is very impressive for a 80+ year old effect.

Read all 20 featured audience ratings