un chien andalou

In Freud’s theory of dreams, he uses four main ways in which the content of one’s dreams and latent thought can be transformed. In the film Un Chien Andalou, the viewer is confronted with a series of images which are difficult to decipher and put into the context of a larger meaning. In Freud’s discussion of dreams and the transformation of latent thought into conscious thought he uses the terms of Condensation, Displacement, and Symbolism. Condensation is defined as two or more latent thought which are combined to create one “pictorial situation” or dream. As viewers we are unable to “discover or recognize the dream-thoughts in the dream-content, unless we understand the reason for their distortion.” In Un Chien Andalou, the viewer is constantly confronted with images, which are un realistic and could potentially be the latent thoughts of the directors. There are many scenes, which are extremely unclear and chaotic, which may reflect the dream or latent thoughts of the directors/writers. Because dreams reflect the unconscious thought process, it is impractical to attempt to decipher the meaning of these disordered visions. The scene with Dali and Bunuel dragging a piano with two dead mules on it dressed as religious figures. This scene addresses this idea of the combination of different unrelated imagery to create one “pictorial situation” through the process of Condensation. Throughout the film the narrative is filled with similar scenes where the process of Condensation creates a “manifest dream image” where the viewer is forced to tackle with multiple images which have little or no logical relation to one another. Freud’s idea of displacement helps to describe the human mind in terms of latent thought and emotional desire. Un Chien Andalou, although a film with an illogical narrative, is filled with issues of human desire. Freud’s idea of displacement discusses the idea of humans’ latent thought not directly imposing their emotional desires on other human beings but rather focusing on an unrelated object. Although, human desire between the male and female characters in Un Chien Andalou, is prevalent throughout he film the desire is not always manifested towards the other figure. For example, the female figure becomes engrossed in a box filled with male clothing. After reading about Freud’s idea of Displacement I was reminded on his psychoanalysis theory of the fetish, and found obvious similarities between the two. The hand is an important object in the film, which many of the figures focus on, perhaps to replace their desires of another human in the form of a fetish.
Freud was also very interested in the object or “dream symbol” which replaces sexual desires. In Un Chien Andalou, the image of a box is repeated throughout the narrative. According to Freud, the box symbolizes female genitalia and desire. The film refers a lot to the idea of the unattainable woman, and the obstacles that men have to go through to have sexual relations with a female. In the case of the film the box may become a fetish object resulting from the frustration that the male feels when he is unable to have the female figure.
“It would be a mistake, however, to suppose that these dream-facades are nothing other than mistaken somewhat arbitrary revisions of dream-content by the conscious agency of mental life.” Freud suggests that the latent thoughts and visions that create the pictorial situations of our dreams are often derived from unconscious desire. As stated earlier it is clear that Un Chien Andalou is expressing human desire, but because these desires are manifested in such bizarre, unconventional manners they may reflect the dreams of the characters. After reading Freud’s “On Dreams” and reflecting on the film I began to contemplate if the film is a depiction of a dream void of any conscious thought or desire. I began to wonder if the desire between the characters’ is conscious, but the manner in which they approach each other reflects their latent desires, which they have explored in their dream visions. Dreams and human latent thought are personal experiences, which are typically not shared. Therefore when the viewer is confronted with these visions although they may have similar thoughts they are bemused by the visions because they are experiencing them in a situation where they are “conscious”.