Directed by Buñuel and co-written by Buñuel and Dalí, L’Age d’Or combines elements of documentary and fiction to critique the traditional values of institutions like the Catholic Church. In this excerpt—filmed in Paris, but set in Rome—a man, played by Gaston Modot, is escorted through the city by two other men. They lead him away from the scene of a thwarted romantic encounter with a lover, portrayed by Lya Lys. As Modot is dragged along the streets, he imagines the alluring photographic advertisements on fences and in shop windows coming to life, illustrating the Surrealist fascination with the intoxicating, even erotic, effect photographic images could have on viewers.
517: A Surreal Lens, 2025
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A Surreal Lens
Gallery 517In 1924, André Breton published his Manifesto of Surrealism, which, guided by Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theories, declared a radical break from the rationalism of modern society in favor of imagination, erotic desire, and unconscious thought.
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