Sadly Over-hyped

Nice effects though.

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

Viridiana (1961) Buñuel's exile film, Trying to make a statement. Murder, suicide, Poverty, and religion. Some good scenes but not enough. (Tanka (短歌 tan-kah) poems are unrhymed short poems that are five lines long, with the 5-7-5-7-7 syllable format. #Tanka #PoemReview

And, I ask you - How serious would you honestly think a woman (living at a convent) was about being a nun (and humbling herself before her god) who daily made sure that she was always totally dolled-up in full make-up? Well - I'd say that unless her god fully approved of his female devotees looking like high-fashion Jezebels, then this woman was not in the least bit sincere about following her religious vocation.And, this was, indeed, the very type of woman who I found in the dubious title-character named Viridiana.If you ask me - I think that (considering this movie was made in 1961) hack-director Luis Bunuel knew full-well that his "sneering-at-Catholicism" movie would, indeed, create religious controversy and inevitably be banned in Spain (his homeland).I believe Bunuel knew that regardless of how badly-conceived his movie was, this sort of negative publicity would be great advertising for his pathetic, little movie and, of course, entice all sorts of people to want to see it even more (even though it was/is nothing but a total bore, for the most part).

While 'Viridiana' contains some well known aspects of L. Buñuel's movies, like fetishism or voyeurism, its main target is, like in 'L'Age D'Or', religion and more particularly Catholicism with its gospel of pity and altruism. This gospel is personified in an aspirant-nun, played sublimely by the Mexican actress Silvia Pinal. But, faced with utterly disgraceful behavior on the part of the poor people she wanted to help, she becomes on the tones of Haendel's music an anti-Messiah.For the Catholic Church this movie is fundamentally a blasphemy, symbolized by its hellish parody of the Last Supper (the picture by Leonardo Da Vinci) with the apostles painted as vile and vicious paupers and beggars. Another of L. Buñuel's more controversial viewpoints is his misogyny expressed by Don Jaime's illegitimate son, Jorge: 'all cats are grey at night'.With a formidable casting, Silvia Pinal being the jewel of the team, this movie didn't lose even a shadow of its subversive bite at Christian morality. A must see for all lovers of world cinema.

After 25 years away from Franco-dictated Spain, Luis Bunuel went back to make Viridiana. The film focuses on a nun called Viridiana, who is informed by her mother superior that her uncle, Don Jaime (Bunuel regular Fernando Rey), is dying and wishes for her to visit him. Whilst he has supported her for many years, she is suspicious of him, and had not seen him for many years. Don Jaime occupies a huge mansion with tracts of land, but has been lonely since his wife died on their wedding night. His only companion is his servant, Romona (Moargerita Lozano) and her daughter Rita (Teresa Rabal). On arrival, Don Jaime sees that Viridiana looks remarkably similar to his dead wife, and proclaims his love for her. When she refuses and leaves, Don Jaime commits suicide. Viridiana is left grief-stricken, and guilty emotions weigh her down. She decides to use the grounds to help 13 beggars.Whilst not as intrinsically "surreal" as many of Bunuel's more well known films (Belle de Jour (1967) and The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972)), but his black sense of humour is in tack, along with his own brand of irony. After Jaime's death, his son Jorge (Francisco Rabal) arrives at the house. In one scene, Jorge sees a peasant dragging a dog that is tied to his cart. Jorge offers to buy the dog in an effort to save it. Bunuel then appears to mock the entire process of selflessness. Once the transaction is complete (and unseen by Jorge), another dog is seen tied to a cart travelling in the opposite direction.Whilst Bunuel was permitted to make a film in his native Spain, no sooner had it been released, than the Spanish government banned it on the grounds of blasphemy and obscenity. The Vatican also denounced the film and called for its suppression. It's difficult to see exactly why this was, although there are some themes and representations that may have been contentious. Towards the end of the film, the vagrants that Viridiana has put up, decide to infiltrate the main house whilst the owners are away. In this debauched scene, the 13 beggars, sit around the dinner table, recreating the famous Last Supper painting by Leonardo da Vinci - a blind beggar is in the place of Jesus.With stunning black and white cinematography by Jose F. Aguayo, each shot is entrenched with beauty and meaning. Whilst not his best film, Bunuel creates a strange drama of basic human desires, and the difficulty in controlling the baser ones. This could also be another possible reason for it's condemnation by the church. For, even with faith, these characters have trouble in controlling themselves, and even Viridiana is implicitly brought into this "life of sin".www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com