What do you get when you combine Spanish filmmaker Luis Bunuel with visionary eccentric painter Salvador Dali? The answer is Un Chien Andalou and the emergence of surrealist cinema. This silent short classic released in 1929 has stood the test of time and remains to this day a masterclass in dream-logic movie making, its influence apparent in the works of directors such as David Lynch. Disjointed and seemingly incongruous scenes sit side by side, leaving the viewer to form their own associations - a man sharpens his razor as clouds gather overhead; he slits a woman's eye open as the cloud passes across the moon. Images juxtapose one after another unleashing primal responses without reason or consequence. The surrealist motifs are all here - death and decay, the unpredictability of human emotions - delivered in montage which defies rationalization.
