Understanding the Confusion

Ghosts Before Breakfast was also my favorite of the films we watched last Thursday. For me it was the film I enjoyed and understood the most. The whimsicalness of the moving hats and disappearing people reminded me of the television show "Bewitched." The film also intrigued me the most- I want to know more about the filming or editing techniques they used to make the various objects move. I understood Ghosts Before Breakfast as a portrayal of a day where nothing seems to get done. The use of the clock shows that time keeps on passing but the characters are unable to put their ties on or go down a ladder. This reminded me of various Saturdays where I just stay home doing chores and watching television and before I know it is nighttime.

I found the other films interesting, but I'm not sure I completely understood them. In particular the Surrealist films Coquille et le clergy man and Un Chien Andalou reminded me of dreams in that they were illogical, loosely connected, and featured the unexpected objects like the dead donkeys. I could see how the films are supposed to portray the repressed feelings of an individual that appear during sleep. This would explain the clergyman’s desire for the married woman while Un Chien Andalou expresses the random and unconscious dreams that the human psyche creates.