Sightlines · how to watch
How to watch Él
1953 · Luis Buñuel · Él on Sightlines
4 things to watch and listen for on a first viewing, without spoilers, and 4 more once you have seen it. Each names something you can see or hear, the pattern it belongs to, and what noticing it gives you. How these keys work.
On a first viewing
Watch Francisco's eyes during the foot-washing ceremony at the start. (setting)
He is well-dressed among the devout, and his attention runs along the row of bare feet rather than to the priest performing the ritual.
Payoff: His desire fixes on a single detail before he has even seen the woman's face. In the reading: fetish. Deleuze calls an object charged past its function like this a fetish: the plot begins with a body part, not a person.
Watch for shots that put you at a keyhole. (camera)
The camera periodically adopts Francisco's own vantage, a sightline through a door or down a staircase, so you're seeing through his eyes before you notice you've been placed there.
Payoff: For a few seconds you're looking with him, and only afterward do you notice whose eyes you borrowed. In the reading: dicisign. Deleuze calls this a dicisign: an image where you feel the camera itself doing someone's looking, not just showing it.
Notice how often the staircase appears as Francisco moves through his house. (staging)
Buñuel returns repeatedly to the same ornate stairs for ascent, descent, and the sound of someone approaching.
Payoff: The architecture of the marriage keeps announcing itself as a trap before anyone says so out loud.
Watch how calm and courteous Francisco stays in every scene. (performance)
Arturo de Córdova plays him as a composed, reasonable gentleman who never raises his voice or signals that anything is wrong.
Payoff: The film's unease comes from watching control and cruelty delivered with perfect manners.
The 4 rewatch keys open on this page when you choose "Seen it?".
Carry this in: Watch how composed and reasonable Francisco stays, no matter what he's actually doing.