Surrealism

Works which share an experimental impetus celebrating the oneiric realm, Freudian dream symbolism, and the twilight state of consciousness. Surrealism represents the triumph of the unconscious mind through juxtaposed images (frequently shocking ones) freed from the constraints of logical, rational thought.

Surrealism is closely linked to that cauldron of seething impulses and desires that is Freud's Id, and which, according to some authorities, allows individuals to access their most authentic selves. Once liberated from moral restraints and conventions, the individual can finally act upon reality in a transformative way - an element that tends to make Surrealism a socially progressive and politically active movement. Psychoanalysis, Marxism, and Existentialism are among the schools that most influenced Surrealism, a European cultural and spiritual movement born in France in the aftermath of World War I (its principal manifesto, drafted by theorist and poet André Breton, was published in 1924), and in some respects, Surrealism remains vital today.

When it comes to Surrealism in cinema, a significant role was played by two cultural heavyweights - Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí - whose respective collaborations spawned works that would come to be universally considered cornerstones of the nascent genre: the silent short film "Un Chien Andalou" (1929) and the medium-length film "L'Âge d'Or" (1930).