Viridiana
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- For the thirteenth century saint, see Verdiana.
| Viridiana | |
|---|---|
 Viridiana poster |
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| Directed by | Luis Buñuel |
| Produced by | Gustavo Alatriste |
| Written by | Julio Alejandro Luis Buñuel |
| Starring | Silvia Pinal Francisco Rabal Fernando Rey Margarita Lozano |
| Distributed by | Films Sans Frontières |
| Release date(s) |  May, 1961 (premiere at Cannes) 19 March 1962 10 October 1963 23 May 1977 |
| Running time | 90 min. |
| Language | Spanish |
| IMDb profile | |
Viridiana is a 1961 film directed by Luis Buñuel and produced in Spain by Gustavo Alatriste. Along with The Long Absence, it was a winner of the Palme d'Or at the 1961 Cannes Film Festival, but it was banned in Spain for many years.
[edit] Synopsis
The following plot summary leaves out several important details.
The film focuses on a nun named Viridiana (Silvia Pinal), who is told by her convent that she should visit her uncle, Don Jaime (Fernando Rey), her only living relative. After some time on his large country estate, he tries to seduce her, seeing her as resembling his deceased wife. Hearing of his desire to marry her, Viridiana attempts to flee the house immediately, but is calmly subdued by Jaime and drugged with the help of his servant Ramona. He takes her to her room and considers raping her in her sleep, but appears to decide otherwise.
The next morning he tells her that he took her virginity, and says that therefore she cannot return to her convent. By this means he intends to make her wish to stay, but instead she is disgusted and starts to pack. He tries to correct the situation by telling her that he lied, only hoping it would convince her to stay, but this does little to appease her. Asking for her forgiveness, she ignores him and leaves the house. Before she can return to her convent, however, she is stopped, and led back to the home, where in the meantime Don Jaime has committed suicide, hanging himself from a tree branch.
Viridiana takes residence in the house, and gives a group of paupers residence in a large out building nearby and feeds them. Meanwhile, Don Jaime's son, Jorge (Francisco Rabal), moves into the house with his girlfriend, Lucia. He takes a dislike to Viridiana's beggars, who often act much rowdier behind her back. He also makes attempts, like his father, at Viridiana, who scorns him. Lucia gets upset and leaves the house, and Jorge begins wooing his servant Ramona.
When they all leave to town, two of the paupers break into the house, and the others follow, initially just planning to look around. However, they eventually end up eating a fancy dinner there and drinking some quantity of alcohol. Things regress further, with one couple for instance copulating behind a couch, and one breaking a number of pieces of expensive china. The members of the household return earlier than expected to find the house in disarray. One of the beggars pulls a knife on Don Jorge; when he grabs a chair to defend himself, another comes from behind, breaking a bottle over his head and knocking him out. When Viridiana comes in to scold them, the knifed beggar attempts to rape Viridiana. Jorge, who is tied up, offers the other a sum of cash to kill the other. He beats the other with a shovel and takes the money.
The film concludes with a shift in Viridiana: she burns her crown of thorns, wears her hair loosely, and knocks on Jorge's door, presumably in order to woo him. Jorge and Ramona, now lovers, have gotten frisky in his bedroom when Viridiana knocks. Viridiana enters, and he tells her they were only playing cards, and she joins with them. This conclusion is often seen as implying a ménage à trois, which was indeed Buñuel's intent.[citation needed]
[edit] Politics and censorship
Like several of Buñuel's films, Viridiana is critical of Catholicism. It is widely perceived as a parable of the Spanish Civil War in which the Roman Catholic Church and the working class were "seduced" by the Franco government to win the war.[citation needed] The film critiques the Catholic premise that poverty is noble.[citation needed] Buñuel himself said that "I didn’t deliberately set out to be blasphemous, but then Pope John XXIII is a better judge of such things than I am."[1]
Viridiana was the first feature film Buñuel ever made in his native Spain. After the film was completed and sent to the Cannes Film Festival, the government of Francisco Franco tried unsuccessfully to have the film withdrawn from Cannes, and banned its release in Spain. The film was only released there in 1977, when Bunuel was seventy-seven years old.[2]
[edit] External links
| Preceded by La Dolce Vita |
Palme d'Or 1961 tied with The Long Absence |
Succeeded by O Pagador de Promessas |
Cet obscur objet du désir • Le fantôme de la liberté • Le charme discret de la bourgeoisie • Tristana • La Voie Lactée • Belle de jour • Simón del desierto • Le journal d'une femme de chambre • El ángel exterminador • Viridiana • The Young One • La fièvre monte à El Pao • Nazarín • La mort en ce jardin • Cela s'appelle l'aurore • El río y la muerte • Ensayo de un crimen • Robinson Crusoe • Abismos de pasión • La ilusión viaja en tranvía • El • El bruto • Una mujer sin amor • Subida al cielo • La hija del engaño • Susana • Los olvidados • El Gran Calavera • Gran Casino • Las Hurdes • L'Âge d'Or • Un chien andalou
