Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles (Salvador Simó)

[Philip J. Fry]

https://i.imgur.com/9ySW0u5.jpg

Trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbSIQeL4ZK8

IMDb (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7336470/) / wiki (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bu%C3%B1uel_in_the_Labyrinth_o f_the_Turtles) / RT (https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bunuel_in_the_labyrinth_of_the _turtles) / Metacritic (https://www.metacritic.com/movie/buouel-in-the-labyrinth-of-the-turtles)

Official website (https://gkids.com/films/bunuel-in-the-labyrinth-of-the-turtles/)

[Philip J. Fry]

If there's something I can commend the film for it avoids the classic biopic pitfall of trying to cover an entire life or career; instead it narrows the scope to a few months, where Buñuel shoots his third film (Land Without Bread) in a small poor town along his friend Ramón AcÃ*n, who has to deal with Buñuel's mercurial personality.

The film is presented as a slice of life showing how Buñuel's thought processes as a filmmaker as well as how he comes up with some of his more bizarre ideas. It works well as it emphasizing his improvisational gifts, his love of symbolism and how he's influenced by his own dreams. For this, the movie often deals with some of Buñuel's nightmares as they show some of his childhood traumas, his fear of death and a somewhat bizarre dream about his mother as the Virgin Mary which is as Freudian as it gets.

As for the visual aspect, it seems to be very faithful to the look of it's original source, a GN by FermÃ*n SolÃ*s. It has a clean look, relying a lot on browns and greys reflecting the poor state of the humble towns Buñuel is shooting, all of this occasionally juxtaposed with footage of the original Land Without Bread film.

Overall, the movie is in general lacking in emotional payoffs or great drama, but it's lowkey approach works well to show a glimpse the creative process of a historical filmmaker.