Le journal d'une femme de chambre (1964)

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   Siskoid

   When I saw Bunuel's name at the top of Diary of a Chambermaid, I was afraid I'd have a hard time getting into it. Surrealists, you know. But this isn't one of his early surreal pieces, more like a take-down piece of French bourgeoisie and the fascist politics he'd tangled with in the past. Jeanne Moreau arrives in a sleepy village to take a job at an estate filled with, well, creeps mostly. Every man in the story is a different shade of creep, a rainbow that goes from pervert to monster and includes right-wing radical. The first part of the film has some humor as Moreau navigates the wicked waters of this world, then something happens to change everything (as is typical of films based on books that call themselves "diaries") and things get darker... and less explicable. I'm not sure Bunuel really complete the pass on some of his elements, and as things get more overtly political, we may get a little lost. I recognize modern fascism in the 1930s of the film, but these aren't my specific issues or grudges, they're Bunuel's. So while I've reconciled myself to that abrupt WTF ending, I still do not thing it's a satisfying one. (The novel's ending may be even more objectionable, with Celestine becoming as bad as her bosses, but that's a different issue.) 3 years ago

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