Land Without Bread (Luis Buñuel, 1933) Begotten (E. Elias Merhige, 1990) DVD

ISBN 10: 1566871034 ISBN 13: 9781566871037

Publisher: World Artists Home Video

Synopsis

Land Without Bread (Luis Buñuel, 1933) The region of Las Hurdes, not far from Salamanca, is largely cut off from the rest of the world. To reach Las Hurdes, it is necessary to travel through the town of La Alberca, which itself has some unusual sights and customs. The Hurdanos themselves live in several dozen villages in the nearby mountains, near a valley that contains the ruins of a convent. The lifestyle of the Hurdanos is so primitive that, until fairly recently, even bread was unknown to them. Begotten (E. Elias Merhige, 1990) The story opens with a robed, profusely bleeding "God" disemboweling himself, with the act ultimately ending in his death. A woman, Mother Earth, emerges from his remains, arouses the body, and impregnates herself with his semen. Becoming pregnant, she wanders off into a vast and barren landscape. The pregnancy manifests in a fully grown convulsing man whom she leaves to his own devices. The "Son of Earth" meets a group of faceless nomads who seize him with what is either a very long umbilical cord or a rope. The Son of Earth vomits organic pieces, and the nomads excitedly accept these as gifts. The nomads finally bring the man to a fire and burn him. "Mother Earth" encounters the resurrected man and comforts him. She seizes the man with a similar umbilical cord. The nomads appear and proceed to rape her. Son of Earth is left to mourn over the lifeless body. A group of characters appears, carry her off and dismember her, later returning for Son of Earth. After he, too, is dismembered, the group buries the remains, planting the parts into the crust of the earth. The burial site becomes lush with flowers.

Edition details

• Publisher: World Artists Home Video
• ISBN 10: 1566871034
• ISBN 13: 9781566871037
• Binding: VHS Tape