Buñuel in the Labyrinth of
the Turtles *** /
*****
Directed by: Salvador Simó Busom.
Written by: Eligio R.
Montero and Salvador Simó Busom based on the graphic novel by Fermín Solís.
Starring: Jorge Usón (Luis Buñuel),
Fernando Ramos (Ramón Acín Aquilué), Luis Enrique de Tomás (Pierre Unik), Cyril
Corral (Eli Lotar).
Watching Buñuel
in the Labyrinth of the Turtles is to realize how much more ambitious the rest
of the world is in terms of suitable subjects for animated films than Hollywood
is. This Spanish production documents famed director Luis Buñuel’s production
on his 1933 short documentary Las Hurdes (Land Without Bread) – a great little
film in its own right, but basically a footnote in the film giant’s career. Why
the filmmakers decided to tell this story at this time is, well, perhaps a
little unclear. And the animation itself is relatively simple – and I do think
the film dumbs down the Buñuel’s artistic intent here a little, to try and cram
it into a feel good story about two friends. But there’s still a lot here to
admire – perhaps no more than that it exists at all.
The film
opens just as Bunuel’s second film, L’Age D’or (1930) is about to open, and
become a scandal. He’ll receive a lot of praise for it, as well as scorn and
ridicule, and basically made it impossible to find any more funding for his
films in Paris – and led to a kind of split with Salvador Dali, who Bunuel was
linked to earlier. At a loss of what to do next, and having no money, he
eventually settles on making a documentary in Las Hurdes – one of the poorest
places in Spain. He gets the money from his friends, Ramon Acin, when Ramon
wins the Christmas lottery. He hires a couple of cameramen, and goes to this
poor area to shoot the film.
There is
tension right away between good friends Bunuel and Acin. Bunuel is too wasteful
with the limited money they have to shoot the film. He goes to extreme lengths
to get the shots that he wants – including the infamous falling goats. There is
tension in that Acin, who truly cares about the poor, thinks that rich kid
Bunuel is mocking the people of Las Hurdes in the way he films things.
As a film,
Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles is interesting. The animation isn’t
particularly great – but it’s good enough. The film at times flashes between
what we see Bunuel and his crew setting up, and the shots from the real film. I
do wish the film had pushed a little deeper into Bunuel’s methodology – and
reasoning – in the film, which is very complex, and remains debated in films
circles to this day. Bunuel was mocking in the film – but not really of the
people of Las Hurdes, but more of a style of documentary filmmaking that was
akin to what today we would call “poverty porn” and of audiences who were not
able to think critically of what they were seeing. The film doesn’t ever dive
into that though – framing it more of a story of friendship between Bunuel and
Acin – the latter of whom would become a target of the Franco regime in the
years following the making of the film. The film is a loving tribute to him –
but I think it would be interesting if it were more than that as well. Still,
you cannot help but admire that someone decided that not only did the making of
Las Hurdes needed to be a film – but an animated one at that. Call it Bunuel
for kids – that is, if kids can handle a little animal cruelty with their
films.
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