lastliberal It's only now that we are able to enjoy many of the films Luis Buñuel made during his time in Mexico. Sure, it won't rank with his classics like Le Charme discret de la bourgeoisie or Cet obscur objet du désir, but this South American action thriller has a charm all it's own, Make no mistake, La mort en ce jardin, also has pure Buñuel elements to it, especially in the third act.Shark (Georges Marchal) and Djin (Simone Signoret) are certainly the most interesting characters in the first act. Shark may be a lout (Shut up Bible thumper!), but his skills come into play later. Djin is just hot.Great action in the jungle and a beautiful setting in Mexico.

zetes Underseen Bunuel movie starring Simone Signoret and Michel Piccoli, among others. These two, playing a prostitute and a priest respectively, are joined by Charles Vanel, Georges Marchal and Michele Girardon as a group of people in South America trying to escape an oppressive government. Marchal and Vanel, both diamond miners, are two men taken as revolutionaries by those in charge. The first half of the movie is about their getting into trouble, and their attempt to find a way out of the country. The second, and more interesting half takes place in the jungle, where the group gets stranded during their escape attempt. Many of Bunuel's pet themes come up, and there's a lot of his signature visual trademarks. The most potent image is that of a python Marchal kills with a machete, thrown down to the ground while they try to start the fire. Piccoli looks over at it and its corpse is writhing with fire ants. It's a pretty good story, very gripping in its latter half. It may not rank alongside Bunuel's best, but it's certainly a worthy film in his canon.

MARIO GAUCI This rarely seen Franco-Mexican 'potboiler' is perhaps most significant today for being the first of seven collaborations between Spanish director Luis Bunuel and genial French character actor Michel Piccoli – who would practically become an adopted son to the surrealist master's. Although I am aware of at least one late-night Italian TV screening in the early 1990s, I finally got acquainted with it via the priceless Bunuel retrospective I attended eighteen months ago at London's National Film Theater; thankfully, I came across the film again recently on DivX and, in spite of the uncharacteristically slangy American subtitles – which were difficult to make out (despite being unusually large) whenever popping up against a white background – I now gladly revisited it to mark the 25th anniversary of Bunuel's death.The film deals with the escape journey (up the river on a corrupt trader's barge bound for Brazil) of a band of misfits from a South American revolution triggered by the Fascist state's retrieval of the rights of any enterprising miner (read down-and-out bums and renegade adventurers) to hunt for diamonds (one of the film's various international monikers was, in fact, THE DIAMOND HUNTERS – which is how it is listed in the 1996 Leonard Maltin guide I own); incidentally, the country-in-turmoil setting anticipates Bunuel's next French movie, LA FIEVRE MONTE A EL PAO aka REPUBLIC OF SIN (1959). After a fairly plot-heavy first half which serves to introduce the major characters and, uncharacteristically for Bunuel, gives rise to some well-staged action sequences, the film really starts to hum when the disparate party of six (four men and two women) embark on their riverside trek through the deadly Amazon jungle (the "garden" of the title). Incidentally, the movie is said to have been a hefty 145 minutes long in Mexico, while being reduced to 107 elsewhere – echoing the fate of the not-too-dissimilar THE WAGES OF FEAR (1953), with which it shares co-star Charles Vanel! The undeniable highlight comes towards the mid-point with an extraordinary succession of shots which are distinctly Bunuelian: having finally managed to kill and skin a snake, the famished travelers are unable to light a fire to cook it on so the priest (Piccoli) quietly takes out a Bible from his sack and, just as he is tearing a leaf from it, the flame is ignited; however, their elation is short-lived since their reptilian dinner has seemingly sprung back to life while being ravaged by a multitude of ants (an unforgettable image that harks back to Bunuel's life-long love of insects); in the resulting delirium from hunger, a photo of the Arch of Triumph held dearly by Charles Vanel (as it reminded him of his dream of owning a Parisian restaurant) is startlingly accompanied by the cacophony of its typical nightlife, before being summarily torn to shreds and thrown away – an act which later alerts the unfortunate bunch that they have been going around in circles! To top it all, we also have Piccoli's feverish monologue about soft-boiled eggs which, like one of the characters from Bunuel's later masterpiece THE DISCREET CHARM OF THE BOURGEOISIE (1972), he feels compelled to impart to his fellow companions. In spite of his unsubtle name, Fr. Lizardi is easily the most fascinating character in the film – piously advocating submission to the state and yet confronted by both lust and greed when left to his own devices. Ironically enough, what finally saves the group (albeit temporarily) is the fact that 50 poor souls had to die in a plane crash, a site which they stumble upon in the middle of the forbidding jungle! Georges Marchal (in the second of four films he made with Bunuel) plays an adventurer named Shark who is hilariously introduced by giving the index finger salute to the soldiers holding the miners at bay; arrested by the latter, they step inside a Church to pray but at the same time don't hesitate to beat their prisoner into a kneeling position, after which he is stroked by Vanel's lovely deaf-mute daughter whom he had previously mistreated himself (played by Michele Girardon who, despite having no previous acting background, would eventually land a key role amidst another ensemble cast in Howard Hawks' exhilarating HATARI! [1962]…though, sadly, her life ended in suicide at age 36). Simone Signoret plays Djin – another alternate name for this film was the bland GINA(!) – the locale's most popular whore whom Vanel seeks to marry, Piccoli is caught 'with' her by the townsfolk and Marchal loses no opportunity to beat up (in spite of her declared love for him); perhaps this was Bunuel's way of punishing Signoret who, reportedly, proved quite temperamental on the set! In any case, it was a nicely ironic and surreal touch to have her impeccably dressed in evening gown and jewelry (pilfered from the plane crash victims, of course) right before being shot dead by a demented Vanel.Ultimately, this must surely be one of Bunuel's most accessible films and arguably his most enjoyable genre effort which, as was his custom, the director infuses with personal touches that greatly enhance both the fun factor and thematic value of what could have easily been just another throwaway jungle adventure. Judiciously, Paul Misraki's beautiful acoustic score is only utilized for the start and end credits since the jungle segment is evocatively (yet eerily) accompanied by the sounds of wildlife.

dbdumonteil CONTAINS SPOILERS .CONTAINS SPOILERS;CONTAINS SPOILERSAt first sight,"la Mort en Ce Jardin" looks like an adventure yarn for the whole family,but I hope the grown-ups are old enough to know better;it's for sure a very accessible work,when compared to former ones (un chien andalou,los hurdes,el)but do not believe the great Spanish director has lost his bite:even when he filmed "Robinson Crusoe" (another "family movie"?),Bunuel's obsessions surfaced.What puzzles the spectator is the big budget:scope,colors(and the cinematography in the second part is absolutely enthralling),big French stars (Simone Signoret and Charles Vanel ,fresh from Clouzot's "les diaboliques",George Marshall,and also Michel Piccoli who ,though by no means at the beginning of his career,was not very known yet),and a score by Paul Miraski,one of Edith Piaf's favorite composers.There are two jungles:the first one is Man Jungle.Its predators are the military men,its bitter fruit is religion.As the colonels humiliate,forbid,imprison,torture and kill,the priests-here represented by father Lizzardi(Piccoli)-urge the population to resign themselves to it.This priest character is very important,because he is the rough draft of what will be completely fulfilled two years later in "Nazarin"-"La Mort en Ce Jardin" will seem more relevant if you know the 1958 film-You've got to see Piccoli,bringing religious consolation to the prisoners in their dungeon:The raider Chark (Marshall ),who is practical-minded -and who's thus akin to "Viridiana"'s cousin in the 1961 masterwork- will pretend he take the priest's holy writ seriously,only in order to escape.But the best scene in which Bunuel shows his true face is the one in the church.Chark, prisoner led by the soldiers ,walks across a church where Lizzardi is celebrating mass:with his gun,one of the soldiers forces him to kneel down.Later another character will tell the priest that everywhere he and his religious mates come,begins the exploiters'reign.This first part has often be criticized,because they say it moves too slow,but it's necessary to make acquaintance with the main characters ,who will leave the first jungle for the second one:outside Lizzardi and Chark,we have an old man( Vanel),who's forced to escape because the army thinks he is an agitator,his mute daughter,and a prostitute Djinn (Signoret,at her bitchiest).The second part has been praised quite rightly so.Bunuel succeeded in creating a stifling atmosphere full of animal noises -the music is totally absent here and will come back only for the last shots-.The astounding cinematography enhances a green hell garden and these who thinks Bunuel completely jettisoned his surrealistic art should have a second look at it:because it is HERE,even if it's fleetingly.I will take four examples:the first one is the Paris postcard:for a very short while,we do believe the fugitives are back in their dear country;the second one is the snake eaten by ants (seen through the priest's eyes).There's more to the picture than meets the eye:the plane which had crashed in the jungle and which will save some of the characters acquires a surrealistic dimension."God has saved us!" the priest tells.But the raider is not fooled:"it took fifty people's lives (the plane passengers) to save us!".But the most extraordinary picture is Signoret,in the jungle,wearing an evening gown,complete with bright jewels,she's found in the plane.Here again,the priest will be completely helpless,his bible can only be used to light a fire (always Bunuel's practical mind).And Bunuel's religious disgust reaches a climax when the old man goes crazy and yells that God has cursed them .That work ,generally regarded as a minor Bunuel work,is actually extremely intriguing.Although it has not the strength of such works as the ones I mention above ,it includes almost all his recurrent features.Adapted from a José André Lacour novel,dialogue by Raymond Queneau,who wrote "Zazie dans le métro",which Louis Malle transferred to the screen in 1960.