Diary of a Chambermaid (Buñuel, 1964): BFI Southbank, NFT1, 8.55pm
This film, which also screens on June 2nd, is part of the Michel Piccoli season at BFI Southbank. Yoiu can find all the details here.
Chicago Reader review:
Oddly enough, Jean Renoir’s 1946 Hollywood version of Octave Mirbeau’s
novel was a lot crueler and more “Buñuel-esque” than this, Buñuel’s own
remarkable and neglected 1964 French version. It was the first of his
many fruitful collaborations with screenwriter Jean-Claude Carriere and
producer Serge Silberman, and, if I’m not mistaken, his only encounter
with ‘Scope (in black and white). Formally and thematically, this is one
of Buñuel’s subtlest and most intriguing late works; the novel’s action
is updated to the 30s and includes a commentary on the French fascism
of the period. Jeanne Moreau plays the heroine, and others in the cast
include Michel Piccoli, Georges Geret, and Francoise Lugagne. The
absence of a musical score makes Buñuel’s use of sound especially
beguiling.
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Here (and above) is an extract.
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