Symbolism in Un Chien Andalou

The film Un Chien Andalou is a never-ending source of intrigue and discussion. I have watched the film three times, including the class viewing, and I always experience a sense of awe and bewilderment. As mentioned in class, I have attended the Salvador Dali museum in St. Petersburg, FL, and the amount of symbolism that consistently occurs throughout Dali’s work is astounding. Between the museum trips and the art history classes I have taken, I would like to share some of my understanding of Dali’s common motifs, specifically those of which appear in his film Un Chien Andalou.

One of Dali’s most commonly used images is that of an ant. The ants symbolize death, as they are a representation of decay and decomposition. Dali is attracted to the sense of abjection, in that as a viewer we are simultaneously attracted to the image as well as disgusted by the same image. This contrary nature reinforces what we have discussed in class in regards to the contradictory nature of the Modernism period. The ants within Un Chien Andalou occur during a scene of attraction between the man and woman, again reiterating the sense of desirability and disgust, as well as a fascination with lack of permanence (decomposition/death) in life or in love.

Another common but more abstracted theme within Dali’s work is the absent father or unstable male figure. Dali’s relationship with his own father was tumultuous and insecure, which influences his work by showing men as small in scale or abstracted within his paintings, and in the case of Dali’s film, the men are shown as emotionally unbalanced and unstable. All of the men within Un Chien Andalou are exposed as emotionally insecure with an almost bipolar sense of emotional expression, while the women are shown as stable and in control of their emotions.

Lastly, the film highlights the theme of commodity and consumption, both of which Dali uses throughout his art career. Within Un Chien Andalou, some of the characters are literally attached to their belongings, as shown with one of the men being tied to his piano and other personal affairs. Additionally, the motif of the striped box throughout the film, and the attachment and adoration the characters show towards the box, highlights the growing sense of consumerism and self-identification with personal belongings that appeared in a burgeoning Modernist society.