In Luis Buñuel’s darkly comic psychodrama, a reawakened childhood memory convinces rich, cultured Archibaldo that he is able to cause the death of others. But his murderous impulses are frustrated at every turn, driving him to find ever more inventive ways to fulfill his desires.
A key work of his Mexican period, Buñuel’s gloriously twisted film anticipates his later works with an ambiguous tale of bourgeois hysteria, transgression and erotic obsession. Full of pitch-black humour and surrealist flourishes, The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz is an unjustly neglected gem from one of cinema’s greatest artists.
This region-free Blu-ray edition presents Luis Buñuel’s The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz from Cineteca Nacional México's 4K restoration. Extras include video essays by Cristina Álvarez López and David Wilt, a gallery of Buñuel’s personal annotated script, and a booklet with writing by Jordi Xifra and Cristina Álvarez López.
