Diary Of A Chambermaid

1964 Director Luis Buñuel

This is a remake of the 1946 Jean Renoir film based on the novel by Octave Mirbeau and is now considered to be a classic piece of Luis Bunuel film making.

Celestine, a beautiful Parisian domestic who, upon arrival at her new job at an estate in provincial 1930s France, entrenches herself in sexual hypocrisy and scandal with her philandering employer.  She quickly learns that he is a harmless boot fetishist, his daughter a frigid woman more concerned with the family furnishings than in returning the affections of her husband, who, in turn, can't keep his hands off the servants. The gamekeeper, is a fascist who keeps his masters informed of all the doings downstairs, and the next door neighbor is a veteran who can't stand the owner and is sharing a bed with his housekeeper. Celestine picks her way through this minefield carefully, spurning the advances of all of the men until it's convenient for her.

Filmed in luxurious black-and-white Franscope, Diary Of A Chambermaid is a raw-edged tangle of fetishism and murder and a scathing look at the burgeoning French fascism of the era.

The Milky Way

1969 Director Luis Buñuel

This is the first of what Luis Bunuel later proclaimed a trilogy about "the search for truth". The Milky Way (La Voie Lactee) daringly deconstructs contemporary and traditional views on Catholicism with ribald, rambunctious surreality.

Two vagabonds are making their way from Paris to Spain on a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, where the remains of Saint James are believed to be kept. While their journey begins in the 20th Century, as they travel they seemingly develop the ability to move through time and space as they pass through a variety of historical scenes taken from a broad range of theological texts and all involving heresy in one form or another. As they walk the long road to Santiago de Compostela they encounter Jesus who decides not to shave his beard to keep his mother happy; a young boy with stigmata and unusual powers; the Marquis de Sade who patiently struggles to teach atheism to a young girl he's captured; an eccentric priest who has an irreversible belief in transubstantiation until he changes his mind; two men who put their debate over Catholic dogma to the test in a duel with swords; and Satan who shows up just in time for a car wreck.

This is a diabolically entertaining look at the mysteries of fanaticism. The Milky Way remains a hotly debated work from cinema's greatest skeptic. While Luis Bunuel never made a secret of his skepticism about the existence of God, he was also raised as a strict Spanish Catholic and remained fascinated with the church's teaching throughout his life. Apparently, each of the film's historic episodes was adapted faithfully from an actual biblical text or historical account.

Belle de Jour

1967 Director Luis Buñuel

This is satirist and surrealist Luis Buñuel adaptation of the 1928 novel by Joseph Kessel. This film dramatizes the collision between depravity and elegance, one of the favorite themes of director Luis Buñuel. Because of a question of copyright and ownership, Belle de Jour disappeared shortly after its 1967 release, not even resurfacing on videotape. When it was reissued theatrically in 1994, many critics placed this perplexing film on their lists of that year's best films.

Catherine Deneuve stars as a wealthy but bored newlywed. Early in the film she is kidnapped, tied to a tree, and gang-raped. It turns out that this is only a daydream, but her subsequent visits to a neighboring brothel, where she offers her services, certainly seem to be real. This illusion/reality dichotomy extends to the final scenes, in which we are offered two possible endings.

In 1967 this was probably a very avant-garde film exploring areas of sexuality that were taboo. In today's world this film has become very dated. I was disappointed when I revisited it. The acting by the principle actors is very wooden and staged. The daydreams are could have been a great deal more explicit and Belle's character does not develop in a smooth transition. On top of that there is quite a bit of poor editing. As a landmark film it's worth watching but it does require perseverance.