I watch movies every week and then write down my thoughts. Read my previous reviews!
My rating is simple, Watch It, It Depends, Skip it.
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| Viridiana -Tragedy befalls the moral one. |
Watch Viridiana Written by: Luis Buñuel
Directed by: Julio Alejandro, Luis Buñuel, Benito Pérez Galdós (novel "Halma")
Starring:
Silvia Pinal, Fernando Rey, Francisco Rabal
Rated:
Plot:
Viridiana, a nun about to join a convent, visits her estranged uncle.
Review:
Viridiana is a depressing film exploring human depravity and corruption. Viridiana's Mother Superior urges her to visit her uncle, a plight that leads to Viridiana abandoning the convent. Her uncle is smitten with her as she resembles his dead wife. She even relents and wears the dead woman's wedding dress at her uncle's behest. The uncle drugs her, planning to have his way with her, but relents and cannot go through with the deed. When Viridiana awakes the uncle tells her he did it anyway in a ploy to discourage her from going back to the convent. Undeterred, Viridiana leaves, but is stopped at the train station. Her uncle hung himself and has left his property to her.
Viridiana decides to house homeless men at the estate, forgoing a return to the convent. Despite her attempts to do what is right, tragedy befalls her. While away for the day on business, the homeless men break into the house, just to see what such a house looks like. Then helping themselves to the food, they ransack the house.
Nothing good can last. The ending is harrowing, implying that Viridiana has given up on the moral path, succumbing to the base desires of others.
Buñuel uses a jump rope and the wedding dress throughout the film, the objects taking on different meanings depending on the setting. The jump rope is first used by a child, then by the uncle to hang himself, and by a beggar as a belt.
The movie feels like a criticism of the church. A meek approach doesn't work. Chaos and the corrupt overshadow and subdue what is 'right.' The base humanity operate on a selfish impulse.
Verdict:
Viridiana is an exploration into corrupt civilization. The only compassionate person in this movie is beset by the corrupt. A homeless man is convinced to save Viridiana but not by appealing to his sense of humanity but by paying him. In the end, greed and self indulgence wins. It's a harrowing and depressing film.
It depends.
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