Viridiana Details

[Highly rated reviewer]

All cats are grey at night

So says Jorge as Viridiana completes her transformation from noviciate to beautiful and available woman in 87 minutes at the hands of master of cinema Luis Bunuel. There is no wicked uncle and no corruption; rather a sumptuous array of human beings going about their daily business of flawed living in Franco's Spain of the late 1950's. This is a must see film for anyone interested in world cinema. Unfortunately, this transfer to dvd leaves a lot to be desired: from the original academy framing they have rendered it in widescreen thus tainting Bunuel's wonderful framing. You may or may not be able to adjust your set to get a slightly better image. In the US a proper version (and including extras such as an interview with Bunuel and with Silvia Panel) has been released by Criterion. Lets hope they do a UK release; meanwhile I was just glad to see the film and be amazed.

Eat your lovely custard.

Bunuel's scathing attack on class, state and the Catholic church provoked a scandal and was immediately banned in his native Spain. This fine, incendiary film is simply told but layered with persistent attacks on ineffectual religious idealism and human selfishness, climaxing in a wonderfully grotesque beggar's orgy - a blasphemous parody of the Last Supper that incensed the Vatican - which rivals the wedding feast in Tod Browning's Freaks.