After dumping a bucket of water on a beautiful young woman from the window of a train car, wealthy Frenchman Mathieu, regales his fellow passengers with the story of the dysfunctional relationship between himself and the young woman in question, a fiery 19-year-old flamenco dancer named Conchita. What follows is a tale of cruelty, depravity and lies -- the very building blocks of love.
Buñuel's last film is a coolly told, bitterly funny study of desire that never gets fulfilled. A courteous older gentleman is strung along again and again, and the film turns this into a game of absurdity, irritation and dry humour. The train framing story and the two actresses playing the same character create an odd state of suspension between drawing room comedy and nightmare.
Good for you if you like European auteur cinema that looks at love, obsession and humiliation with black humour and detachment.
Written with AI, based on TMDb data.