Interpretative strategies in Film Studies: The case of Luis Buñuel's Un Chien Andalou

Abstract

The following article frames a particular case study: the role of interpretative strategies within the realm of film studies. It will examine the diverse levels (cultural, linguistic and semiotic) at which interpreting operates, including transposition, transcreation, and adaptation. It will look at a specific film, one that jettisons classical interpretative approaches: Luis Bunuel's Un Chien Andalou. The analysis that follows will entail a close examination of the film text. The corpus of this article in fact will dwell upon a whole matrix of formal features (editing, camera movement, framing) and how such aspects of mise-en-scène open up interpretative possibilities on an ontological as well as an epistemological level.