Word: viridiana
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1970-1979
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Bunuel's The Milky Way (1969), Thursday, May 2, 8 p.m.; Bunuel's Viridiana (1961), Sunday...
...familiar not only from Bunuel's Viridiana and Tristana but also as the crafty dope smuggler in The French Connection, plays the ambassador of a country called Miranda; his exquisitely developed sense of hypocrisy binds him close to his Parisian friends and even closer to Miss Seyrig, a friend's wife with whom he is indulging a perfunctory passion. With his companions Cassel and Frankeur, he is also earning a tidy stipend on the side by smuggling cocaine in his inviolate diplomatic briefcase. Their only concern, besides the ambassadors incessant fear of revolutionaries, is "a gang in Marseille...
...Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie lacks the intense irony of The Exterminating Angel and Viridiana. The tone is farcical, the humor sharp but somehow never wounding. Bunuel could not ever be benign, but here he seems almost lighthearted. The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie is his most blithe and accessible work. We enjoy it, but at the same time we miss Bunuel's bite...
Bunuel's Tristana, which stars Catherine Dencuve, closed the Festival. The story is reminiscent of Viridinana: a beautiful young girl dressed in black enters the home of her guardian (Fernando Rey, who also played the uncle in Viridiana ); she becomes his mistress, then his wife; she destroys him. Loss of innocence is a favorite Bunuel theme, and Deneuve's progression from blond virgin to black widow is a passionate, nearly religious journey. What most marks the film is the blend of heresy and humanism for which Bunuel is distinguished...