**Luis Buñuel (1900-1983)**, a pivotal figure in world cinema, was a Spanish-Mexican director, pioneer, and master of cinematic surrealism.

His career began with the celebrated surrealist short films made in France with Salvador Dalí: *Un Chien Andalou* (1929) and *L'Âge d'Or* (1930), works that challenged narrative and moral conventions. After a long period in Mexico, where he directed neorealist masterpieces such as *Los Olvidados* (1950), Buñuel returned to international success in France and Spain.

His style is unmistakable: a lucid fusion of dream and reality, cutting irony, and a relentless critique of the bourgeoisie, religious institutions, and social hypocrisy. Films like *Viridiana* (1961), *L'Angelo Sterminatore* (1962), *Belle de Jour* (1967), *Il fascino discreto della borghesia* (1972), and *Quell'oscuro oggetto del desiderio* (1977) explore themes of desire, repression, absurdity, and the subconscious, cementing his reputation as a subversive genius.