That Obscure Object of Desire
(1977, Fr./Sp.) (aka Cet Obscur Objet du Désir)
In director Luis Buneul's final surrealistic film:
- the revolutionary, interchangeable use of two actresses
to portray two different sides of the personality of one of the
main characters: - elusive, 19 year-old former chambermaid and
working class dancer Conchita Perez -- as both
- a voluptuous, tantalizing and beautiful lover (Spanish actress
Angela Molina), and as
- a cold, aloof and unattainable female (French actress Carole Bouquet)
- the story of sexual politics told mostly in flashback
as a series of vignettes, as successful Spanish businessman and male-chauvinistic
widower Mathieu Fabert (Fernando Rey) became obsessed with her
- his sexual frustration and anguish clearly demonstrated
when the alluring, carnal, teasing and erotic side of her personality
enticed him for favors, but then changed to a disinterested, unobtainable
female wearing a full, elaborately-laced pelvic corset (that was
similar to a chastity belt and impossible to remove) who refused
his lustful advances