Viridiana - Criterion Collection | 
 enlarge | Director: Luis Bunuel
Actors: Silvia Pinal, Francisco Rabal, Fernando Rey, Jose Calvo (ii), Margarita Lozano
Studio: Criterion
Category: DVD
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Rating:  33 reviews
Sales Rank: 34501
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Color, Dvd-video, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: Spanish (Original Language), English (Subtitled)
Rating: Unrated
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 91
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: VIR040
UPC: 037429212622
EAN: 0037429212622
ASIN: B000C8Q900
Theatrical Release Date: March 19, 1962
Release Date: May 23, 2006
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Product Description
Viridiana is a novice on the verge of taking her vows when she visits her uncle Don Jaime's farm. Still pining for his wife who died on their wedding night Don Jaime is struck by Viridiana's resemblance to her. He drugs Viridiana and attempts to rape her. Later on Don Jaime confesses to her what he tried to do but soon hangs himself humiliated by his own atrocious behavior. Viridiana inherits his farm and in an act of charity opens it up to a marauding troupe of beggars. To her dismay they ruin the main house in a wild orgy culminating in a gross parody of the Last Supper. Upon its release in 1961 VIRIDIANA was condemned by the Church banned in Spain awarded the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and admired by film audiences the world over.System Requirements:Running Time: 91 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: NR UPC: 037429212622 Manufacturer No: VIR040
Amazon.com
While its so-called "blasphemies" have been tamed by the passage of time, Luis Bunuel's Viridiana remains a masterpiece for the ages. After 22 years in Mexico and the United States, Bunuel returned to his native Spain in 1961 with dictator Franco's permission to make any film he wanted, pending the approval of censors. Inspired by a minor saint named Viridiana and an erotic fantasy about making love to the Queen of Spain after drugging her, Bunuel proceeded to combine these elements into a characteristically provocative scenario about Viridiana (Silvia Pinal), a young woman about to become a nun, who leaves her convent to visit the decaying estate of her uncle, Don Jaime (Fernando Rey), an eccentric widower who's immediately taken with Viridiana's close resemblance to his dead wife. Jaime's aborted attempt to seduce Viridiana (and his subsequent suicide) sets the film's second half in motion, as Viridiana assuages her guilt by turning Don Jaime's estate into a haven for the dispossessed--quite literally a "beggar's banquet" that culminates in one of the most indelible images in all of Bunuel: a staged recreation of da Vinci's "The Last Supper," with a cast of itinerant peasants as "disciples" in Bunuel's new world order--a cutting response to backward notions of progress. Like any great film, Viridiana reveals its depth and detail through multiple viewings. The film is scathingly critical of Catholic hypocrisy and Franco's Spain (Don Jaime's estate is a direct reflection of the country's moribund state of sociopolitical decay), and its allegorical content was not lost on Spanish authorities, who banned the film (it wasn't shown in Spain until 1977) after it won the coveted Palme D'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. In a closing stroke of genius, Bunuel skirted around his censors with a final scene even more provocative (in its subtle implications) than the sexually suggestive ending he'd originally filmed. With much to say about the conflicting nature of human desires, Viridiana may have softened over decades, but it's never lost its ability to spark debate, discussion, and rewarding analysis of Bunuel's directorial vision. --Jeff Shannon On the DVD
The newly restored, high-definition digital transfer of Viridiana impressively maintains Criterion's exacting standards of audio-visual quality; it's a flawless transfer, with deep blacks and richly detailed clarity. The supplements include new (2006) video interviews with actress Silvia Pinal and Spanish cultural scholar Richard Porton; warmly revealing excerpts from the 1964 French TV series "Cineastes of Our Times," featuring an interview with Bunuel; and a 30-page booklet with an essay on Viridiana by Princeton film scholar Michael Wood, and a generous interview excerpt from the book Objects of Desire: Conversations with Luis Bunuel. --Jeff Shannon
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| Customer Reviews: Read 28 more reviews...
 Yawn September 23, 2008
0 out of 4 found this review helpful
The criticism of intent is a killer on bad films that have no real depth and do not last a few years beyond their intent's purpose. Such was re-emphasized to me watching Spanish filmmaker Luis Bunuel's vastly overrated black and white 1961 `shock classic' Viridiana. Of course, all the alleged shock value had to do with Bunuel's puerile attempts to poke fun at and scandalize both the Roman Catholic Church and the regime of Fascist dictator Francisco Franco, and nearly five decades later it looks more like a college prank video than any serious cinema. Furthermore, it is not in the least bit subversive, as many poor critics claim, because its criticism of the Church, especially- and even then, was so manifest as to make one wonder if those who claimed it had subversive qualities even knew what the term meant.
Of course, given Bunuel's start as a Surrealist superstar- that overused and often misapplied term, it's no surprise that much of his filmic career would be seen through such a pretentious lens- especially by fans masquing as critics, rather than dealing with the individual films, and whether they fail or not. The fact is, while Viridiana is a reasonably capably made film- on a technical level (although there is no standout cinematography, musical scoring, nor interesting visual compositions), it fails because its screenplay is abysmal. As in other `classics' of his, whose luster has faded (think Belle De Jour), Viridiana is larded with cardboard characters, caricatures, and outright stereotypes that are bad enough, alone, but given that they are not put to any truly subversive use, makes them all the more a wasted effort. They also suggest the paper thin grasp of reality- especially the political sort, that die hard Leftists like him are often represented as having; making him the biggest unintended caricature of all those associated with the film.
Yes, Bunuel is not as pretentious and lacking in filmic basics as that other Surreal fraud, Jean Cocteau- so what? That doesn't make Bunuel a Master; not even close, despite all the praise tossed his way. Viridiana fails not for a huge error or two, but for an unending string of little wrong and inane things, such as ridiculous symbolism- Viridiana sleepwalks and tosses ashes into Jaime's bed, and a film that moves far too quickly and gives no real insight into anything- especially its characters. For ellipses to work, they must be deployed within well-defined characterization, so that viewers can reasonably extrapolate the elided events. Without that, the missing elements shortchange both the tale and the characters.
Furthermore, the film's criticism of Roman Catholicism is absolutely depthless- it has been done before and since, and done better. There is no intellectual rigor, nor a hint of poesy. The political intent overwhelms the minuscule art. And, without real characters, who gives a damn what is intended? The exercise is rendered pointless by its own incompetence, something that haunts most of the Bunuel canon, which may explain why Viridiana- film and character, have such vacancies in their gazes.
 The masterpiece of Don Luis Bunuel August 12, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
If you have to own only one film from Luis Bunuel, Viridiana have to be it ! I still consider this film from 1961 to be one of the two best the spanish film director ever made. The other one is ''Nazarin'', a film Bunuel made in 1958 during his exile in Mexico. When you consider how little money he had to do this film compare to Viridiana, I would vote for Nazarin as Bunuel's all time masterpiece. Another great thing in the Viridiana DVD is the wonderful extras they included. You'll see a rare but too short interview of the great mexican actress, Silvia Pinal and a delightful interview of Luis Bunuel dating from 1964 in which he prooves that he had a great sense of humor also ! So, if you're a Bunuel fan, don't hesitate !
Bunuel at his best: Viridiana. September 27, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Censored, banned, and burned by the Francoist authorities in Spain, Luis Bunuel's 1961 film Viridiana was the winner of the Palme d'Or at the 1961 Cannes Film Festival. It tells the story of a beautiful young novitiate, Viridiana (Silvia Pinal) who, about to take her vows, is told by her Mother Superior to visit her lonely uncle, Don Jaime (Fernando Rey), thus putting her on the path to disillusionment. Upon discovering that Jaime hopes to seduce and marry her, Viridiana attempts to flee the house, but is subdued and drugged by her uncle. He then tells her she cannot return to her convent because he took her virginity. She decides to return the convent anyway. Uncle Jaime then hangs himself, prompting Viridiana to return to the estate to devote herself to a life of good works tending to the village poor. Her virtuous plans are again interrupted, however, this time by the arrival of Don Jaime's illegitimate son, Jorge (Francisco Rabal) who, like his father, hopes to seduce Viridiana. By the end of the film, Viridiana is a changed woman. Nearly fifty years after its release, Viridiana remains compelling cinema, setting a standard against which most other films fall short. As with most "classics," it improves with multiple viewings, and Bunuel's genius becomes even more evident.
The newly restored Criterion edition offers a high-definition digital transfer, video interviews with Silvia Pinal and author Richard Porton, excerpts from a 1964 episode of Cineastes de notre temps on Luis Bunuel's early career, the U.S. trailer, and improved English subtitles.
G. Merritt
Viridiana July 2, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Perhaps the crowning achievement in Bunuel's oeuvre, "Viridiana" details the efforts of a virtuous former nun to minister to the poor after she's irrevocably changed by a fateful encounter. As you might expect from Bunuel, a lifelong critic of church, state, and bourgeois society, the effort is disastrous, culminating in a black-comic tableaux of decadence in which the petty, spiteful miscreants and beggars take over the mansion. The infamous recreation of Da Vinci's "Last Supper" is only one of the myriad poetic images you won't soon forget. Pinal is a radiant presence, especially playing off rugged Rabal, as Don Jaime's libertine son, who inherits the estate along with Viridiana. Banned in Spain until 1997 for blasphemy and ostensible obscenity, "Viridiana" is a brilliant, cutting examination of faith and depravity by a Spanish master.
A Bunuel masterpiece June 14, 2007
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
The day after this film won the 1961 Palme d'Or at Cannes, the reaction of the Catholic church prompted Franco's Spain to ban it and burn most copies and all outtakes. Just prior to its release though, Bunuel scandalized his republican friends by returning to the country ruled by the fascist Generalissimo, to work on Viridiana.
The film is as full of its own paradoxes, so it casts only a splintered light on Viridiana to see it as an anti-Franco tract, through the prism of the director's atheism, or, for that matter, in terms of struggles between rich and destitute, simple and sophisticated, backward vs. modern, etc. Bunuel is not a straightforward leftie, an outright atheist, or a simple anything.
[If you haven't seen the movie yet, you might want to skip the next 3 `spoiler' paragraphs]
Viridiana dislikes Don Jorge, her uncle by marriage: she disapproves of his past and spurns his unexpected proposal. When he relates his great tragedy - his wife's death just after their marriage - she is unsympathetic, even brutal. Yet he (Fernando Rey, The French Connection, Belle de Jour) is in fact starved for love, which takes him to the verge of a desperate act. Thinking he has drugged and raped her, Viridiana abandons her wish to become a nun. His suicide does not visibly soften her, although she asks a band of paupers and mentally-unhinged outcasts to join her in restoring the finca she inherits, which has lain fallow for too long. Her invitation is presumably meant to atone, although it is not clear if it's for her uncle's sin of suicide or for her part in prompting it.
This attempt to lift the poor through their work requires a discipline they don't want, yet her request that each contribute "according to their abilities" expresses a naive socialism that backfires on her. For all her vagabond guests' down-to-earth joy and exuberance, they are depicted as petty and prone to malice. They see her as a saint (and she does not mind), but they betray her noble intentions, showing her faith to be disengaged and empty.
The tensions that afflict Don Jorge make him one of the richest characters ever put to screen, undercutting any view of him as merely a randy lecher or some symbol of a corrupt ancien regime. Jorge, his philandering, illegitimate son (Paco Rabal), believes the estate he inherited with Viridiana can be restored through hard work - while she and the paupers pray in the fields and work like dilettantes. Like his uncle, Jorge is kind but practical, even wily, and this saves her from rape. In the end, she comes around to his earthy ways, with a heavy heart.
This Criterion DVD includes a restored version and interviews with the leading lady (Silvia Pinal) and Bunuel, who got top-rate performances from everyone, including mentally-challenged vagrants he recruited off the street - who, in fact, very nearly steal the show. This may be Bunuel's least surreal movie, and it is far richer than I've related: there is outstanding, eerily moody cinematography; various allusions to Poe, the spiritual mentor of Surrealism; melodrama leavened with subtle humour (the uncle cross-dressing, the vagabonds who inherit the earth, various double-edged religious symbols, including a mock Last Supper); and much more besides. Even the music plays a central part: Don Jorge takes solemn delight in Handel and Mozart, to which the revelling vagrants jig; he also plays the organ, dreadfully yet lovingly; later on, the radio plays a vacuous pop song while nobody listens - suggesting that something has been lost, after all, as well as gained.
An intriguing film that's aged very well, providing an excellent introduction to one of the great directors.
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