From the Screen to the Stage: An Appropriation for the Stage of Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí’s Un Chien Andalou Based on an Analysis of the Film from the Perspective of the Spanish Literary Avant-Garde. By: Diego Rodrigo Sosa Ortega. Royal Holloway, University of London. PhD Media Arts & Drama. 1 Declaration of Authorship The title page should be followed by a signed declaration that the work presented in the thesis is the candidate’s own. Please note that there is no set wording for this but an example is provided below: Declaration of Authorship I, Diego Rodrigo Sosa Ortega, hereby declare that this thesis and the work presented in it is entirely my own. Where I have consulted the work of others, this is always clearly stated. Signed: ______________________ Date: 22/09/2017 2 Abstract. This thesis is formed of two components: an analysis of the film Un Chien Andalou, as seen from the Spanish literary avant-garde and an appropriation of the film for the stage. Un Chien Andalou is one of the most discussed films amongst the surrealist cinema but most of the studies around it place it within the Surrealism practiced in France. The first component of this thesis is a careful analysis of Buñuel and Dalí’s involvment in the literary movements that developed in Spain from 1914 to 1932 and the way in which these movements had an influence in Buñuel and Dalí’s early writings. In this first component, I argue that, while Un Chien Andalou is indeed a Surrealist film, it derives from a particular understanding of Surrealism, one that is heavily influenced by the Spanish literary avant-garde. Furthermore, this examination highlights the way in which the Spanish avant-garde, and by extension Buñuel and Dalí, understood some of the narrative tools, such as time, space, metaphor, characters, and themes. I compare these tropes, as understood by Dalí and Buñuel, to those in Un Chien Andalou. Based on this analysis, I create a new version of Un Chien Andalou for the stage. In my theoretical piece, I show that Buñuel and Dalí’s intention was for the images not meant to signify anything. However, there is actually a carefully meditated and conscious logic behind the way in which these images are structured. My Andalucian Dog, which is my own version of Buñuel and Dalí’s Un Chien Andalou, is a theatre piece that aims to incorporate this logic or syntax into a new story of my own device, that resonates with the original film, through this logic. The purpose of this practical piece is to bring forward Un Chien Andalou’s literary bacKground and explore this sintax in a new medium. In sum, this dissertation has two components. The first one is a detailed analysis of the film Un Chien Andalou by Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí, from the perspective of the Spanish literary avant-garde. The second component is a version of the film intended for the stage that derives from this thorough exploration. 3 Table of Contents. INTRODUCTION. ......................................................................................................................................... 6 UN CHIEN ANDALOU, AS UNDERSTOOD BY THE SPANISH AVANT-GARDE. .......................................................... 9 UN CHIEN ANDALOU, A FILM PIECE ADAPTED FROM LITERATURE. ................................................................... 12 AN APPROPRIATION OF THE FILM TO THE STAGE. ................................................................................................ 13 A FINAL NOTE. ............................................................................................................................................................. 20 CHAPTER 1 ................................................................................................................................................ 22 ADAPTATION V.S. APPROPRIATION. A SUITABLE MODEL FOR THE THEATRICAL SCRIPT OF UN CHIEN ANDALOU. .................................................................................................................................................................... 24 AN ANALYSIS OF THE WRITTEN SOURCES OF UN CHIEN ANDALOU. ................................................................. 35 CHAPTER 2. ............................................................................................................................................... 70 ¡VAYA MARISTA!: RELIGION AS A BALLAST TO POETRY. ..................................................................................... 73 GARCÍA LORCA AND BUÑUEL. .................................................................................................................................. 86 GARCÍA LORCA AND DALÍ. ......................................................................................................................................... 91 LORCA’S EL PASEO DE BUSTER KEATON. ............................................................................................................ 101 A CONCLUSION: THE DONKEYS ON THE PIANO. ................................................................................................... 104 CHAPTER 3 .............................................................................................................................................. 110 EL PERRO ANDALUZ AND UN CHIEN ANDALOU. THE POINT OF VIEW. .......................................................... 112 BUÑUEL’S LITERARY QUEST. ................................................................................................................................... 117 PALACIO DE HIELO, THE SUBSTITUTIONARY NARRATION AND THE LIFE OF OBJECTS. ................................ 127 DECOUPAGE, OR CINEMATIC SEGMENTATION. .................................................................................................... 139 CONCLUSIONS. ........................................................................................................................................................... 147 CHAPTER 4 .............................................................................................................................................. 151 GERARDO DIEGO, THE MULTIPLE IMAGE, AND THE MUSIC IN UN CHIEN ANDALOU. ................................... 153 ULTRAISMO, POETRY AND EVASIÓN. .................................................................................................................... 174 EARLY IDEAS AROUND LITERATURE. ..................................................................................................................... 176 THE PLASTICIZATION OF LIFE ................................................................................................................................. 179 EVASION AS A MEANS TO AVOID THE REALITY OF DEATH. ................................................................................ 189 SUPERREALISMO, EVASION AND UN CHIEN ANDALOU ...................................................................................... 198 CONCLUSIONS. ........................................................................................................................................ 204 LIMITATIONS FOR THE ANALYSIS OF UN CHIEN ANDALOU. .............................................................................. 204 CHARACTERS, THEME, AND STRUCTURE IN UN CHIEN ANDALOU. ................................................................. 214 HOW THIS THESIS CONTRIBUTES TO THE STUDY OF UN CHIEN ANDALOU. ................................................... 218 A FEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR FURTHER RESEARCH. ............................................................................................. 220 SOME FINAL REMARKS. ............................................................................................................................................ 221 MY ANDALUCIAN DOG. ........................................................................................................................ 223 PROLOGUE. .............................................................................................................................................. 223 SHOT I. ........................................................................................................................................................................ 227 SHOT II. ...................................................................................................................................................................... 233 SHOT III ...................................................................................................................................................................... 238 SHOT IV ...................................................................................................................................................................... 244 SHOT V ........................................................................................................................................................................ 248 SHOT VI. ..................................................................................................................................................................... 254 4 SHOT VII. ................................................................................................................................................................... 261 SHOT VII. ................................................................................................................................................................... 267 SHOT VIII ..................................................................................................................................................................