El

Original title: Él

1953
Approved
1h 22m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

Arturo de Córdova and Delia Garcés in El (1953)

A husband's suave exterior unravels after his marriage, and he unleashes his paranoid and volatile temper on his wife, which escalates to more dangerous and unpredictable tantrums.A husband's suave exterior unravels after his marriage, and he unleashes his paranoid and volatile temper on his wife, which escalates to more dangerous and unpredictable tantrums.A husband's suave exterior unravels after his marriage, and he unleashes his paranoid and volatile temper on his wife, which escalates to more dangerous and unpredictable tantrums.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.9/10

6.7K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 1 nomination

Trivia
In making the film, Buñuel added personal memories of his sister Conchita's paranoid husband who once mistakenly thought he saw Buñuel making vulgar faces at him on the street and went home to get his gun. He was stopped when Buñuel's family finally convinced him that Buñuel was living in Zaragoza at the time.

Quotes
Francisco Galván de Montemayor: Now tell me truth: what do you dislike about me?
Gloria Vilalta: There's nothing l dislike about you.
Francisco Galván de Montemayor: There must be something, nobody's perfect.
Gloria Vilalta: Well, there's one thing: sometimes you're a bit unfair.
Francisco Galván de Montemayor: Nonsense! I don't have that fault. Few men possess so keen a sense of justice as l.

Connections
Featured in Regarding Buñuel (2000)

User reviews32

Review

Featured review

8/10

"Talent borrows, genius steals"

I had these words by Alex Epstein in mind when I left the theater. Before I went to watch Él I knew Hitchcock had taken a bit to draw Vertigo. Well, it's not simply a bit.

Buñuel's style is both graceful and low-key. It's a pity this made his work less obviously marvelous to masses. On the other hand if there is something lacking in Él this is a gripping suspense. Something Hitch mastered with his will to enthrall masses. Buñuel's directing is more on the side of actors for us to hesitate between judging the characters and just waiting for more... which is exactly the theme.

Bringing psychological torments to screen is definitely not easy a directing choice . It's a challenge for the upper-crust and I remember Hitchcock's Spellbound was not really convincing, neither was Fritz Lang's Secret beyond the door. Yet each brought something to be chewed for others to experiment.