ARE NOT WHAT THEY SEEM

Bunuel's Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie' is a masterly work. The characters are a nondescript bunch of middle-class people-a civil servant a young businessman, a diplomat from a Latin American embassy and their wives or girlfriends.

scene is modern-day France, but it could be any western country.

The action mainly consists of innumerable attempts of this group of friends to get together and have a successful lunch or dinner free of incident.

They make there is some appalling misunderstanding or else some catastrophe bursts in on them from outside.

Many of the interruptions that we see on the film are in fact nothing but dreams of failure or disaster which different characters have in turn.

But in the end, it all amounts to the same thing: the bourgeoisie are not what they seem. They are beset with all sorts of anxieties and problems, haunted by fears of inadequacy and feelings of guilt and walking endlessly to nowhere. Above all they are laughably incompetent.

The whole film from the title to the closing shot is a subtly ironic comme nt on the doomed historical F osition of the bourgeoisie as a class.

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Paperback 37гp i Problems of the British Paperback 35p Lessons of October Paperback 60p In Defence of the October Pamphlet 15p Marxism and the Trade Unions Pamphlet 25p Death Agony of Capitalism and Lamases of the Fourth International the Tasks of the Fourth International Postage: 10p per book, 5p per pamphlet. Order from: NEW PARK PUBLICATIONS 186a Clapham High Street, London SW4 7UG Nowhere, of course, is this ever stated. Bunuel deals entirely in the stifling detail of everyday middle-class life — how to make the best dry martinis, how to make good herb soup, where to go for dinner etc. etc.

Other, more political incidents are brought in, such as a bit of heroin-smuggling and some brushes which the Latin diplomat has with a group of terrorists, but these are mainly episodic scenes used to bring out some of the detailed paranoias which torment the bourgeois soul.

The most powerful impression that comes across is the direct opposite of discreet charm. The bourgeoisie in fact are clumsy thugs and Philistines.

The film opens IMMUNE Parking meters are no problem if you're a diplomat. In the last six years diplomatic immunity has been claimed by embassy staffs for a total of 132,055 parking offences.

Nigeria tops the league with 11,104 'immune' offences. Next comes Saudi Arabia, with 6,789 waived parking offences.

The rest of the 'top ten' are: Hungary (6,727), Egypt (5,767), Ghana (5,677), Poland (4,471), Turkey (4,460), Iran (4,162), Cyprus (3,637) and Cuba (3,460). guests arriving one evening for dinner at the young businessman's country home, all suaved-up, nervously trying not to notice the empty boredom of their sparse conversation, and looking forward to pigging in.

They walk in, but the host is not there and the wife is in her dressing gown about to turn in for an early night. They. have come on the wrong evening.

After some embarrassed silence, they eventually come up with an idea-all go off to a local restaurant.

After some confusion, thinking the place is closed, they eventually get inside and settle down, deciding to ignore the strange behaviour of the staff and the absence of any other diners.

SIX STALINS The •Manchester Evening News' had a remarkable item about Stalin the other day. It claimed that a diplomatic correspondent was in Moscow at a conference in 1947 when the But the power of the film is in the observations of the middle-class mentality rather than in the events, themselves.

The pathetic vanity, the pretensions, the Philistine emptiness of their conversation, their greed, their hypocrisy, their moral corruption, and the indirect influence on all of them of the threatened position of their whole class, make the film worthwhile.

It is impossible to summarize in words how Bunuel achieves the effect he gets. Every word, gesture and movement is carefully conceived and faultlessly executed in exactly the manner required.

Not once throughout the film is the bourgeoisie mentioned by name or spoken about. Not a word of political criticism is raised against their rule. But the bourgeoisie everywhere will squirm uncomfortably to see themselves as Bunuel sees them.

great leader paid the ballet.

The streets from the ballet back to the Kremlin were lined with double rows of police. Then six limousines swept past. Sitting in the back of each vehicle was. Stalin. The question is, which one was Marbone Canners Limited of