... to recount a dream, although it profits by a mechanism analogous to that of dreams.'2 The surrealists were greatly influenced by Sigmund Freud, the Austrian founder of psychoanalysis. They were especially receptive to his distinction between the 'ego' and the 'id'-that is, between our primal instincts/desires (the 'id') and our more rational patterns of behavior (the 'ego'). Since our primal urges are often unsuitable/ inappropriate in terms of social expectations, Freud concluded that in a repressive world, we are unable to share our dreams consciously and push them into the unconscious part of our minds. He believed that individuals must bring their hidden desires to the awareness of the conscious mind. Freud felt that despite the overwhelming urge to repress desires, the unconscious still reveals itself-particularly when the conscious mind relaxes its hold-in dreams, myths, odd patterns of behavior, accidents, and art. Through the film's disturbing succession of images and surrealist ...

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