Review of Viridiana (1962) by Kevin N — 17 Apr 2009

Bone-chilling, filled with sequences that pester your insides in indescribable ways. The laughs come packaged with guilt, and things that might seem funny in the moment will come around full-scale, and vice versa.

Silvia Pinal, an actress of extraordinary strength and honesty, gives a brutally tragic performance, fitting her aura to the director's precise desires, almost in a sexual manner. When Bunuel wants her to be radiant, she glows; when he wants her to be ugly, she's hideous; her performance in the finale of the film is natural and jarring.

The most famous scene in the film may be Bunuel's most striking; a replication of Da Vinci's famous biblical painting is recreated in the most obscene way; the scene is reminiscent of the kind of loud and frightening barbarity of Browning's 'Freaks', but here the scene feels sad as well as being frightening.

This was the delightful period in Bunuel's career where he was careful not to apply blatant surrealism to his films but instead constantly questioned his audiences' morals- most of what appears normal in a film like 'Viridiana' has sickening undertones that violently accuse and send resonating echoes that haunt long after the film has ended.