Q: Do you like Bellochio?
BUÑUEL: I've seen Fists in the Pockets—I don't find it the slightest bit interesting; it's repulsive and far too facile. It's really completely overdone—the blind mother, the retarded brother…the son putting his feet on the mother's coffin—it's too easy…While he was at it, why not show him shitting on his mother's head? It's the only thing he spared us.
—From "Two Interviews With Luis Buñuel," translated from a Cahiers du Cinema article, reprinted in Modern Film Scripts: 'Belle De Jour,' Simon And Schuster, 1971
Well played, Glenn. Well played.
The latest ‘Sight & Sound’ devotes a 3-page article to the film but also gives it a negative review. Personally I wish they’d bring back the occasional ‘duelling reviews’ format, as was used for ‘L’humanité’ and ‘Requiem for a Dream’.
I could not agree more with this.