That Obscure Object of Desire

That Obscure Object of Desire
French theatrical release poster
FrenchCet obscur objet du désir
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Directed byLuis Buñuel
Screenplay byLuis Buñuel
Jean-Claude Carrière
Based onThe Woman and the Puppet
by Pierre Louÿs
Produced bySerge Silberman
Starring
CinematographyEdmond Richard
Edited byHélène Plemiannikov
Production
companies
Greenwich Film Productions
Les Films Galaxie
InCine
Distributed byGEF-CCFC (France)
InCine (Spain)
Release dates
  • 17 August 1977 (1977-08-17) (France)
  • 1 March 1978 (1978-03-01) (Spain)
Running time
102 minutes
CountriesFrance
Spain
LanguagesFrench
Spanish

That Obscure Object of Desire (French: Cet Obscur Objet Du Désir; Spanish: Ese Oscuro Objeto Del Deseo) is a 1977 French-Spanish absurdist satirical comedy-drama film directed by Luis Buñuel, based on the 1898 novel The Woman and the Puppet by Pierre Louÿs. It was Buñuel's final directorial effort before his death in July 1983. Set in Spain and France against the backdrop of a terrorist insurgency, the film conveys the story told through a series of flashbacks by an aging Frenchman, Mathieu (played by Spanish actor Fernando Rey), who recounts falling in love with a beautiful young Spanish woman, Conchita (played interchangeably by two actresses, the French actress, Carole Bouquet and the Spanish actress, Ángela Molina), who repeatedly frustrates his romantic and sexual desires. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 50th Academy Awards representing for Spain.

In recent years, the film has been highly acclaimed by critics and is considered one of Buñuel's greatest movies and a fine swan song for his extensive career.