The_Film_That_Changed_My_Life

L’âge d’or
139
L’ âge d’or follows some of the fundamentals of surrealism, such as sex
should be veiled, not pornographic or realistic. But even if you see Dalí
a few years later, he’s almost completely turned around from that.
Maddin: Yeah, he’s getting horny again.
Even in the titles of his paintings . . .
Maddin: Yeah, he perverted himself somehow, whereas Buñuel kept his
hand on the pillar.
Do you think that’s a product of his Jesuit education?
Maddin: I think he just had a clearer idea. Dalí just got spoiled, and Buñuel
certainly didn’t get spoiled after L’ âge d’or, because he didn’t get to make
another movie for a very long time. I think he just stayed more true to
his beliefs, and I know at the end of his career he was able to say he never
included a single shot against his will or took one out against his will. Most
of his movies are really good, whereas Dalí seemed to incarnate corruption
early on. He maybe even turned that into a shtick. It’s not a very interesting
shtick, really, whereas everything Buñuel does is just so true, cutting, cynical,
and actually has taught me that I’m not alone in the way I’ve struggled
to find love.
Other than that message, can you point to another specific impact
Buñuel has had on your career or style?
Maddin: There’s just so much mischief in him, and it’s sort of taught me that
something’s not quite done until it’s got . . . an extra twist. It just seems like a
film isn’t quite right unless it’s got just that Buñuelian twist, that little sense of
mischief. Where it’s just this soupçon of cynicism, but mostly kind of acrid
truth. It’s always funny, surprising, and it survives repeated viewings.
Some of the stuff in the movie is supposedly shocking. But since it’s also
a secret shameful truth that’s about all of us, it actually gets better with each
viewing, and the shock effects become inconsequential. I’m always trying to
think along those lines. I would never even in a million years say I’ve done
it, but I’m always trying to tell the truth about myself in my movies, but certainly
not with any self-pity. I literally try to do it masochistically because it
should hurt a little bit to put that stuff out. So when I’m writing my scripts or