Thoughts: Viridiana (Silvia Pinal) is about to become a nun, however before she takes her final vows she is asked to visit her uncle Don Jamie (Fernando Rey), who has funded her education. Viridiana happens to look very similar to her uncle’s dead wife. He decides to plot a way to corrupt and keep Viridiana with him so she can never go back to the church. The film has strong negative religious undertones and is a dark satire. When the film was released it was banned in Spain and denounced by the Vatican.
(M) Journal D’une Femme De Chambre, Le (Diary of a Chambermaid). (Luis Bunuel, 1964) Grade: B-
Thoughts: Celestine (Jeanne Moreau) is hired as a maid in the French country for the Monteils estate. The wife is uptight and cold, the husband is a hunter for women and animals and the grandfather has a strange shoe fetishist. I could not connect to the characters so I had a hard time caring about what was going on with them. In addition, the director threw in a political message that got lost on me.
(M) Au Revoir, Les Enfants. (Louis Malle, 1987) Grade: A-
Thoughts: Julien Quentin (Gaspard Manesse) is sent to a French boarding school run by priests during WW II. There he befriends Jean Bonnet (Raphael Fejto) and the two slowly become good friends. It is later discovered that Jean Bonnet is Jean Kippelstein who is hiding from the Nazis only to be found and killed. This film was touching and sad and heartbreaking; more so because it was based upon the director’s own experiences when he attended a boarding school during the war.
(M) Persuasion. (Roger Michell, 1995) Grade: B+
Thoughts: Eight years ago, Anne Elliot (Amanda Root) wanted to marry Frederick Wentworth (Ciaran Hinds) but due to his poor family connections it was not allowed. Now Frederick is Captain Frederick, a wealthy and successful man and Anne’s family is in financial trouble. Another classic Jane Austen tale about love and class status, Persuasion is not one of my favorites. The actors were amazing BUT not very good looking. As superficial as that sounds, I think Hollywood has trained me for Keira Knightley-type Elizabeth Bennet. Actually, Ciaran Hinds was okay looking, sort of a poor man version of Clive Owen.
Movie Count: 46
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