At the hour of our need

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SASA MAJUMA | Tuesday November 4, 2008 00:00

That 'Viridiana' was rejected by the Vatican and suppressed by the Spanish government is therefore not surprising. 'Viridiana' was a 'succs de scandale', winning the Cannes' Palme d'Or.

Buuel has always been a playful filmmaker. 'Viridiana' is not his best film, but it is a good introduction to his movies. Buuel, grew up in Calanda, a village in Aragn, and was educated in Madrid starting at 17, and then moved to France in 1925. Inspired by Fritz Lang's 'Destiny' (1921), he became an apprentice to Jean Epstein to learn about filmmaking.

His first two surrealist films were 'L'Age d'Or' (1930) and 'Land without Bread' (1932). He was forced into exile because of Franco's victory in Spain and World War II and it would be 15 years before he made his next feature film.

In Hollywood he made documentaries and then worked at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. In 1946 he moved to Mexico where he made dozens of films, the most famous being The Young and the Damned (1950), which is a neo-realist film. In 1955 he moved to France. In 1961 he was invited back to Spain to make Viridiana.

His Belle de Jour (1967) and That Obscure Object of Desire (1977) also delve into sexual obsessions. Buuel said of people trying to explain his films: 'from the standpoint of reason, there is no explanation'.

One key to surrealism and all its absurdities is that its ambiguity is grounded in realism. Why Viridiana behaves in contradictory ways at each turning point is never explained. But the consequences of each decision are clear. Viridiana (Silvia Pinal, the great Mexican star) is a young novice nun about to enter a contemplative order.

Her Mother Superior commands her, as one last act, to visit her uncle, Don Jaime (Fernando Rey) who, unknown to Viridiana, has been supporting her in the convent over the years. She considers her uncle a beast and has no desire to visit him. She is told by the Mother Superior to, 'Show him some affection'.

Once there, Viridiana succumbs to his entreaties, and begins, with the collusion of his servant Ramona (Margarita Lozanzo) to indulge her uncle his whims. Her daughter Rita loves skipping rope and having visions of Black Bulls. While Don Jaime plays a Mozart requiem, she tries to challenge her uncle on his past. For example, 'Is it true you have a son?'

He in turn charms her with his answers. He is able to get her to wear her aunt's wedding gown, the same one she was wearing around 18 years ago when she died on their wedding night. Viridiana even looks like her long departed mother's sister. When her uncle announces his intentions for her, she retorts, 'You must be insane'.

Her rejection results into a tragedy, but who wins in the end?

Don Jaime did not want Viridiana to leave his house. Instead she goes and lives in the stables, and continues her acts of self-mortification. She is consumed by guilt, but announces, 'I know my weaknesses'.

She has not yet returned to her nunnery to take her final vows, but she does embark upon acts of penance, bringing to her uncle's estate a coterie of down and out people: the lame, the halt, the blind, the sick, and a prostitute with two young children. This band of ragamuffins may be initially grateful to Viridiana, but in the end their essential humanness wins out, with all its selfishness and cynicism.

The abandoned son, Don Jorge (Francisco Rabal), Viridiana's cousin appears to claim his birthright, leading to more ambiguities and confused realities.

How long will Viridiana continue to live in the stable with her paupers? The resolution comes through a grand banquet, the likes of which was never consummated in Buuel's The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972) - his most acclaimed film.

This wild feast, accompanied by Handel's Messiah, is a form of beggar's opera. It even includes an essential surrealistic group photograph modelled on the 'Last Supper', but taken with an absurd hidden camera.

This scene, perhaps more than all the rest combined, caused the film to be suppressed. The movie ends, not with more Mozart, but a pop song of the time, 'I love her, and she loves me'.

Viridiana is one hour and 30 minutes long. It is in Spanish with English subtitles. It is rated 15 plus. Luis Buuel who also wrote the script with Julio Alejandro directs it.

The cinematographer is Jos F. Agayo. The editor is Pedro del Rey. The music is by Gustavo Pittaluga. sasa_majuma@yahoo.co.uk