Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Tuesday's Great Thought

Luis Bunuel (1900-1983) was one of the truly great cinematic artists of the twentieth century. From his early collaboration with Salvador Dali (Un Chien Andalou) in the 1920s through to his final masterpieces in the 1970s (The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie and That Obscure Object of Desire), Bunuel represented a kind of restless aesthetic spirit and probing social critique that made his films entirely unique. In other words, he pretty much lived up to the standard suggested by the following quote:

"A writer or a painter cannot change the world. But
they can keep an essential margin of nonconformity
alive. Thanks to them the powerful can never affirm
that everyone agrees with their acts. That small
difference is very important. When power feels
itself totally justified and approved it
immediately destroys whatever freedom we
have left; and that is fascism."

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