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Viridiana [VHS]

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'Viridiana' begins like a mad Spanish variant on Roger Corman's Poe adaptations. Don Jaime is the Vincent Price-like mad widower (his wife died of heart-attack on their wedding night), haunting his crumbling manor, neglecting his decaying lands, mournfully playing an old piano or listening to Bach and Handel records. At night, by a coffin in which is draped his bride's wedding dress, he wears her shoes and corset. In his past is a shameful story of youthful transgression, and an abandoned, illegitimate son. He invites his niece, Viridana, a dead ringer for his wife, to stay with him for the few days before she takes holy orders. In a fantastic ritual, he asks her to wear the wedding dress and proposes marriage; when she refuses, he drugs her, with the aid of his devoted servant - to whose daughter he gives the skipping rope that takes on an importance from the merely symbolic into the fetishistic and violent - and takes the niece to the bedroom for a necrophiliac rape. Prior to this, he had caught her in one of her sleepwalking trances, throwing her knitting into the fire, and pouring ashes on her uncle's bed. Pure Poe.

Poe was one of the acknowledged precursors of the Surrealists, and in 'Viridiana', Bunuel makes use of two Gothic tropes - the Gothic house/castle/manor is often a figure for the disintegrating mind, but also a metaphor for the nation: Don Jaime's madness, his gentility masking a dangerous egotism, his passion perversely and inwardly directed so that it feeds on itself, his neglect of the land, are all tenets of Franco's Spain, a pinched, gnarled, sterile world in this film.

The Gothic was also the genre in which society could dramatise those anxieties - death, sexual deviance, social disruption - not talked aobut in the middle class public sphere. Gothic novels often featured representative, hyper-virtuous heroines who had to negotiate evils such a society would cast out. Such a reading applies to 'Viridiana' also, with the title character, who has spent most of her life closed off from the world, hidden from its temptations, confronted with unpalatable distortions of desire, family, the body, community, class etc.

In 'Viridiana', however, Bunuel conflates these two movements - the Gothic as social allegory, and as site of released repressions. The film's infamous second half - in which Viridiana attempts to atone for a suicide by caring for beggars and outcasts, and her uncle's son's attempts to modernise the home - savagely mixes them up. The beggars, embodying a whole antheap of qualities, desires, realities the Spanish ruling class and bourgeoisie everywhere suppress, take over the mansion, mishandle its possessions, parody its civilising artefacts (food, music, painting, sculpture), a destructive Bacchic frenzy contemptuous of viewers - we may cheer when the meek inherit the earth, but a greater pack of brutal thugs, informing sneaks, loathesome lepers or frothing rapists you'll never see; while Don Jaime, for all his monstrosity, has a quiet grace absent from the other characters. His servants assume their own thuggish hierarchy when faced with the amoral vagrants, asserting their perceived superiority. The celestial Viridiana's initiation into the 'earthy' is not something anyone, whatever their politics, can buy.

It is wholly characteristic that Bunuel should couch this moral dynamite in one of his most visually beautiful films - the recurring Bunuel motifs (feet, ropes etc.; religious paraphernalia as bondage gear); the dense compositions, at once framing characters in their environment and mocking them; and the startling zooms out, from intimate close-ups on parts of the body to the shocking realisation that someone is always watching.

This is one of the best pictures I have seen in my short life of 75 years. The plot is economical and excellent. The direction of Bunuel is outstanding (hardly news that). The plot exposes the hypocrisy of the devout, the fallibilty of human nature, the hopelessness of poverty and the uselessness of instictive philantropy. It would be difficult to make a better picture on the subject. I have seen it many times and I would see it again and again. Bunuel had to smuggle it out of Spain while Franco was ruling it but Franco loved it too... He would watch it in private...

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

The controversial satire was banned by the Spanish government for obscenity and blasphemy after it had received the Golden Palm at the 1961 Cannes Film Festival. Viridiana of the title is a young nun (Mexican actress Silvia Penal) who is assigned by her mother superior to visit her widowed uncle Don Jaime (Fernando Rey) on his farm just before taking her final vows. Viridiana reluctantly agrees to meet with her uncle whom she never knew but who has supported her financially all these years. Don Jaime is obsessed by her cool virginal blond beauty and he sees her as reincarnation of his bride who died thirty years ago on their wedding night. Bunuel gives some of his own sexual fantasies, fetishes, and dreams that he freely admits to Don Jaime thus making him more human. Viridiana winds up as a farm owner along with her uncle's illegitimate son, Jorge (Francisco Rabal, humble and spiritual Nazarin of "Nazarin" here plays absolutely different man). Viridiana, following the great traditions of mad Spaniards, originated by Cervantes and continued by Nazarin, takes seriously great ideas and tries to live accordingly when she attempts to make the farm a heaven for local homeless beggars. Viridiana is a woman of virtue but all her good intentions lead nowhere. I am not surprised that the film was banned and all copies were ordered to be destroyed (Silvia Penal in her interview recalls the dramatic story of two copies of the film that were saved and buried, so they could wait for the better times), I am surprised how Bunuel was able to make this super dark dramedy about the inability of the Catholic Church to deal with the realities of the world at all in his native Spain when Franco was still in power.

Technically, Viridiana is a perfect film, odd and enigmatic behind the seeming simplicity. It's power lays not in the set decorations, stunning locations or the colorful costumes but in a way people interact. When asked what were his ideas behind his films, Bunuel answered, "I have no ideas, it is all instinct".

It took 17 years to bring "Viridiana" home to Spain where it was first shown at the theaters in 1977. It took another 29 years to transfer it to Criterion DVD. Now it is available with several interesting bonus features that include interview with Silvia Penal from 2006, an interview with Richard Norton, the Cineaste editor, and the best one, the parts of the film about Bunuel that was made back in 60th and the man in the documentary is as enigmatic, odd, charming, brilliant, and sinister as his films are.

Highly recommended.

To make such genial film you need not only the natural gift, but besides the moral conviction and the necessary force to push against all the odds this brutally eloquent portrait of the last consequences involved when you decide to be in straight line according the holly precept of a concrete theologic virtue: the charity.

Just think in the historic moment the film was made. Buñuel was essentially an anti establishment artist , and his political posture is well known and one of his primary concerns consisted in proving that we are not in the best of the possible worlds and this statement scopes the shade of the Totalitarian Regimes in search a better world for the mankind : the search of the total welfare implies necessarily the demolition of the previous Status Quo. And if you watch with absolute coldness and free or passionless, you will feel this invisible slap in the face of the most devoted believers the human happiness can be stated. The literal mess when the alcohol make his late effects in the middle of this humble crowd , slowly and progressively goes showing the ugliness of the feelings behind the mask of good manners, creating a real atmosphere of claustrophobia and horror in the worst sense of the word. The sinister parody to the last Supper was immediately rejected by many religious sectors: Once more the forest avoided to watch the real intentions of Buñuel.

This extraordinary, original, powerful and unforgettable film is one the supreme master jewels of the Cinema in any age.

The performance of one of the most beautiful and talented actress in that age: Silvia Pinal as the prodigal nun who really believes in the fact the human still can be redeemable is simply of first rate. And the script deserves simply an everlasting applause. After you watch this merciless picture you will reformulate your inner vision about certain issues you considered out of discussion.

I had recently seen "Los Olvidados" by Bunuel and I knew from that that he was a director of great talent. I had the opportunity to watch "Viridiana" and came away even more impressed. In that hour and a half movie, I saw so much that I'm sure that I'll have to watch it a few more times before I get the whole picture. The movie is filled with social and theological commentary as well as an abundance of symbolism. There were times that I laughed heartily, times that I was deeply touched, times that I was uncomfortable, and times that I was in awe.

The story is that of a novice (Viridiana) about to enter the holy orders. She is ready and anxious for that new life to begin but then her mother superior practically has to order to to go spent her few remaining days of freedom with her uncle. There had been little contact between the two over the years so they had to get to know each other again. There are some scenes during this portion of the movie that are rather crude and may be disturbing to some. I understand that the script was cleared by the Spanish censors but then banned before its' release. I'm sure a lot of that comes from this portion of the movie. Yet there is a lot said within this portion such as the aspects of trust, misplaced responsibilities, obsessions, etc.

The next phase of the movie deals with Viridiana's attempt to try to live her life of faith in the "real world" rather than the closed society of a convent. It sounds like just what Jesus would do but the assembled dozen or so poor people that Viridiana takes under her wing make up the main focus for the next portion of the movie. These people are hilarious in a most ironic way. Their own social strata makes a joke out of their pleas for sympathy. Bunuel probably goes a bit overboard with some of this but we don't mind; it's great satire. These beggers serve to challenge the faith of Viridiana. She firmly believes in the need to reach out to the lesser among us. Unfortunately, they continuously spit in her face (figuretively speaking) and practically destroy her own well-being.

Finally, after being challenged in so many ways, Viridiana finds the need to make a choice of direction for her future. This is where I drew the line of enjoying the movie for what it had to say. I don't think Bunuel made his ending (and we all know what it is meant to say) very persuasive. When Viridiana switches from observer to participant, some of us will feel that the case for this has not been made. Viridiana can be forgiven for being disillusioned but not for being disinterested. However, my objection to the tone and nature of the ending does nothing to my appreciation for the greatest that is "Viridiana". I'm going to half to see more of Bunuel. This man has a lot to say and the talent to do so with upmost eloquence.

"Viridiana" is one of the greatest Foreign film works ever made. It is perfectly directed by the genius Luis Bunuel and has a richness in impact, story and visual style that makes this a film to view more than once. Bunuel gives us an effective psychological study and a look at a reality with eyes unblinking and near the end a dinner advances into a study of the savage side of man, of the animal in man. Here is a true work of cinematic genius. The mixture of cinematography, music, sets, costumes and the way Bunuel films the beautiful Silvia Pinal make the film hypnotic. Like the greatest directors, Bunuel made masterpieces taken from his own obsessions and thoughts and ideas and even dreams. Here is proof that a director can truly make a personal film that leaves a powerful impact and impression on the viewer. The film is dark, yet beautiful, even the title sounds beautifully artistic. Luis Bunuel remains the greatest surrealist mind of the cinema. "Viridiana" is evidence of why.

Director Luis Buñuel was the epitome of Surrealism in movies. All his pictures, even the underrated from his Mexican period, are provoking.
He was an atheist but, as many Spaniards, his soul and works are always tinted by the presence of the Divinity.
His visceral attacks are mostly focused onto the Catholic Hierarchy and the double moral practiced by the bourgeoisies.

In "Viridiana" (1961) as in most of his films, characters are ambiguous. They shed light and cast shadows to each other. There are no "absolutes"; even the more despicable have some traits of "virtue" and vice versa.
This movie is quite straightforward by Buñuel's standards. Without the fascinating and troubling daydream images he delivers in "Belle de Jour" or "That Obscure Object of Desire", he manages to give the watcher a hallucinatory-like world.

The storyline is as follows: Viridiana, a novice just going to profess, is recalled to her uncle's home. She reluctantly goes to pay a visit to her aging uncle and is involved in his lusty necrophilia fantasies.
She flees the manor, but at the railway station she is stopped by the police with the notice that her uncle has committed suicide.
She inherits the mansion sharing its possession with Jorge, his uncle's natural son.
From that moment on two projects coexist: Jorge tries to modernize the ranch's exploitation and Viridian collects and give shelter to a group of town's paupers.
Buñuel contrast this two projects with his usual bitterness and arrives to a final sequence that leaves the viewer in shock.

It is a great and dark film for adult audience. Be aware that Christian, particularly Catholic Christians, may be upset by the final sequences of the movie.
Reviewed by Max Yofre.

When Franco came to power in Spain, Luis Bunuel chose self exile. (After all, they DID shoot Lorca.) In 1959 the Franco government was convinced it would help lighten their fascist image by inviting Bunuel back to Spain & giving him some money to make a movie. They must have breathed a sigh of relif when Bunuel said he would base his movie on the life of an obscure Spanish Saint, Viridiana. But when it was finished the government took one look & was so horrified by what it saw that it threw Bunuel out of Spain permanently & tried to get the rest of the world to ban his movie. The rest of the world, instead, started giving it prizes. Two cousins inherit their uncle's farm. The niece, a pious, convent bred girl about to take vows toward becoming a nun, decides she can do God's work in the world. She collects the local homeless & sets them to work in her fields with hoe & pitchfork. The nephew, a wordly man who likes his creature comforts, hires people adept in the latest in agricultural sciences, moves in modern equipment & the housekeeper into his bed. The film then becomes a study in contrasts: Old vs new, sacred vs profane & superstition vs reason. The climax (literally) comes when the cousins are in town attending to personal business. While they are away the rag-tag band of the blind, the lame & the halt decide to have their own little Festival of Fools up at the big house. And this is when all hell breaks loose. Some people were so appalled by what they saw that they thought all hell really DID break loose. (When you see the movie you'll know what caused the ruckus & why.) Fernando Rey is the goatish uncle with decidedly de Sadean intentions toward his neice. Silvia Pinal as Viridiana seems, as usual, to be in someone else's movie but given her character here perhaps it works. (She's like Judith Anderson's Mrs. Danvers but without the passion.) Francisco Rabal as the nephew who is also an observer (possibly standing in for Bunuel) catches the requisite tone of irony & he gets the last line in the movie which suggests a sort of MARIAGE A LA MODE. The film doesn't have the deftness & flow of the French films which were to follow beginning with Bunuel's very next movie THE DIARY OF A CHAMBERMAID. Instead it is primitive & crude like the Mexican films before it. Still it has all the exuberance of a little boy splashing about in a mud puddle. He knows his betters will think he is being naughty & that eventually he will have to pay a price but for the moment he is having so much fun that he just doesn't care.

Buñuel finest. You can learn a lot from this movie. The main character saves a dog from a dog's life, but we see another carriage with a dog in a similar situation nearby. The famous ending, changed due to the censorship in Spain, but at the same time working better. The famous 'last dinner' portrayal that gets the picture taken by the female character (Lola Gaos). And we could go on and on. How the most needed are at the same time ruthless with themselves and others. Don't help others blindly, have your feet on the ground and prepare for a counter reaction. Viridiana is a classic that breaks ground and it has lost nothing to time. This movie is as good as it gets.

A profoundly important film, and an inspiration in that a filmmaker in his sixties could still show such anger and rigor in his depiction of human nature. One of the most compassionate, subversive and thrilling films ever made.