How Luis Buñuel ruined Charlie Chaplin’s Christmas
Very few artists have influenced the evolution of the cinematic medium as much as Luis Buñuel. Often cited as one of the pioneers of surrealism in film, Buñuel made multiple masterpieces throughout his career – ranging from Un Chien Andalou, his collaboration with Salvador Dalí, to The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie.
While many modern artists look to Buñuel’s cinema for inspiration, the Spanish-Mexican filmmaker regularly cited the masters of early cinema as his heroes. When asked about his ten favourite films of all time, Buñuel mentioned monumental figures such as Sergei Eisenstein and Charlie Chaplin.
In fact, Chaplin and Buñuel actually shared a close relationship, and Buñuel often visited Chaplin’s house to engage in recreational activities such as swimming and tennis. In his autobiography, My Last Sigh, Buñuel outlined an incredible encounter at a Christmas party where he tore the Christmas tree apart with his own hands.
Buñuel had been invited to a Christmas party hosted by the Spanish comedian Tono, and Chaplin was one of the guests as well. He attended the party with his roommate, screenwriter Eduardo Ugarte, but became incredibly angry when an actor decided to recite a patriotic poem. Buñuel admitted: “Like all patriotic displays, it made me nauseous.”
He directed Ugarte and another actor to attack the tree on his signal. The director recalled: “Which is exactly what we did, although it’s not easy to dismember a Christmas tree. In fact, we got a great many scratches for some rather pathetic results, so we resigned ourselves to throwing the presents on the floor and stomping on them. The room was absolutely silent; everyone stared at us, openmouthed.”
Although Tono’s wife reprimanded Buñuel’s actions, he maintained that the attack on the Christmas tree was “subversive”. The incident was even reported in the paper, but Chaplin was a brave man. He invited Buñuel to his house that New Year’s Eve and took him aside before the proceedings started and pointed to the Christmas tree in his house.
The filmmaker remembered their conversation: “Since you’re so fond of tearing up trees, Buñuel, he said to me, ‘why don’t you get it over with now, so we won’t be disturbed during dinner?’ I replied that I really had nothing against trees but that I couldn’t stand the kind of ostentatious patriotism I’d heard that evening.”
