• Release year: 1961
• Director: Luis Buñuel.
• Producer: Gustavo Alatriste.
• Screenplay by: Julio Alejandro and Luis Buñuel.
• Cinematography by: José F. Aguayo.
• Music by: Gustavo Pittaluga.

Shotgun Commentary: male-coded, prejudiced, and reductionist point of view of Spanish society.

Review

Viridiana follows the story of a woman of the same name (Silvia Pinal). She wants to become a nun, but is forced to visit her uncle (Fernando Rey) first. He has been paying for her stay at the convent (charity is rarely free). So her mother superior (Rosita Yarza) orders her to go visit as a thank-you. He becomes obsessed with Viridiana and, in order to make her stay, he drugs her. Then, he makes her believe that he raped her so she won’t feel worthy of going back to the convent. When this doesn’t work, he kills himself.

What should be the end of the nightmare is nothing but the beginning of a worse situation. The absolute lack of power of women in society is perfectly reflected through Viridiana’s experience. Radiance features a 4K restoration of this film as part of their Buñuel box set “Nothing is Sacred”. The disc also contains some extra content that will be shared after the review, so stick around!

Double standards

This feature was surely controversial when it came out in the 60s. Spain has always had a very religious society. However, during the 60s, there was also a dictatorship. This meant one couldn’t just express any thoughts on religion that went against the norm. As such, it comes as no surprise that there were so many issues with recreating a religious painting or using religious music as background for socially disrespectful acts.

Funnily enough, all the respect that one had to have for religion didn’t translate when it came to women. Unless it’s the Virgin Mary, that is. Women were seen more as objects than people. This is why the multiple sexual assaults on the protagonist didn’t pose any problem at all. The double standard is particularly interesting when it comes to this film, since it followed the work both in and outside the content itself. Michael Brooke elaborates on this matter in the audio commentary made for Radiance’s release.

Still, the commentary on the hypocrisy of the Church doesn’t end with their treatment of women versus the Virgin Mary. The mother superior, despite her short appearance in the film, manages to squeeze in another classic Church behaviour. After her uncle dies, she is quick to get to Viridiana due to her insatiable need for gossip. Now, the Church considers gossip as wilful engagement in evil so, of course, one can’t outright confirm that one is looking for tea. Instead, the mother superior disguises her curiosity as a selfless act to hear her child’s confession.

Gossip and gossipers

Omitting the fact that demonising gossiping is a patriarchal technique to prevent women from helping each other against the dangers of their vulnerable position in society, this behaviour is one of many similar strategies used by Church representatives to go around the principles they are supposed to be upholding. The question is, if you don’t believe in the teachings of the doctrine you represent, should you be part of that doctrine at all? At the very least, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the Church loses followers every single day.

The main course of the film are the gender and class dynamics that ruled the Spanish society during the 60s. Concisely put, Viridiana is an innocent woman who believes everyone has good in them and deserves a chance at a better life. This attitude, described by Brooke as “childish”, is not only admirable but inspiring.

Religion aside, wanting to see the best in people and to help those in need is not a mindset that should be put down or punished. It is the attitude we should all aspire to have. Of course, the story is as grounded in reality as possible, meaning all the men around her see her, not as a smart woman who wants to do good, but as a silly girl who is building castles in the air. Much like with her aspirations, men see her lack of interest in the opposite sex as a provocation, as a challenge they must win, consent be damned.

Carrot and stick

In terms of gender, the critique is blunt and accurate, but the feature takes too much of a voyeur perspective to be a proper critique. As one expects from the cinema of the time, the director never thinks to tell the story from Viridiana’s point of view, it is always someone else’s perspective of what takes place, normally men. This attitude makes the content of the film incredibly uncomfortable to witness, not only due to the events that take place, but also to the witness role that the audiences are forced to play.

As for the class struggle, the narrative follows the class prejudice of the time to a T. At a time when wearing your hair a bit long could land you in jail under the Vagrancy Act, the prejudice against anyone who didn’t look exactly like everybody else was incredibly strong.

Seeing people in a rough condition being portrayed as opportunists without an education who only know how to steal and rape is but a perpetuation of these ideas through the media. Again, it is not surprising, but it is quite cringe that these toxic stereotypes are perpetuated and reinforced through art.

Final thoughts

All in all, Viridiana might have been a really popular movie at the time, but nowadays, it is but a reflection of a shameful past. It does bring up great points, but doesn’t quite elaborate much on anything.

The movie plays with stereotypes and prejudices, passing them as realities, a dangerous representation coming from a popular media. Both the circumstances of its release and those portrayed in the film are incredibly telling of Spanish society during the dictatorship. A past that is both disgusting for any feminist and really important to keep alive if one hopes to never repeat the same mistakes.

Radiance’s box set “Nothing is Sacred” will be released the 16th of December, but it is already available for pre-order on their website. Link below!

LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES

• New 4K restorations of Viridiana and Simon of the Desert from the original negatives
• A new restoration of The Exterminating Angel from a 4K scan by Radiance Films
• Uncompressed mono PCM audio for each film
• Newly filmed appreciations for each film and Buñuel by filmmakers Richard Ayoade, Alex Cox, Guillermo del Toro, and Lulu Wang (2024, 55 mins)
• The Life and Times of Don Luis Buñuel – A BBC Arena documentary on Buñuel featuring contributions from Buñuel and collaborators including Catherine Deneuve, presented on Blu-ray for the first time (1983, 101 mins)
• A Mexican Buñuel  – A documentary directed by Emilio Maillé on Buñuel’s Mexican period (1995, 56 mins)
• Buñuel: A Surrealist Filmmaker – A feature-length documentary directed by Javier Espada on Buñuel’s life and career, presented on Blu-ray for the first time (2021, 84 mins)
• An interview with Buñuel from 1964 recorded for French TV’s Cinéastes de notre temps (1964, 48 mins)
• The Other Trinity: Alatriste, Buñuel and Pinal – A visual essay on Buñuel in Mexico by Abraham Castillo Flores (2024, 34 mins)
• Dinner and Other Rituals – A visual essay on The Exterminating Angel and the dinner party on film by critic and writer Alexandra Heller-Nicholas (2024, 17 mins)
• Audio commentary on Viridiana by critic Michael Brooke (2024)
• Galleries including production and behind-the-scenes images
• Optional English subtitles for each film
• Reversible sleeves featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Sister Hyde
• Limited edition 80-page book featuring new writing by Glenn Kenny, Justine Smith, Lindsay Hallam and David Hering, as well as archive material
• Limited edition of 6000 copies, presented in a rigid box with full-height Scanavo cases and removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings

Find the Radiance release right here!

Advice to take from this movie:

• It’s dangerous to trust people.
• It is easy to paint an unknown lifestyle as evil.
• Men are not to be trusted. Are all men bad? Not at all. Is it safe to trust men you don’t really know? Again, not at all.

What’s your take? Have you watched Viridiana? Don’t hesitate to let me know your thoughts in the comments section below, or leave a message in my contact page! For more reviews and cinema-related articles, check out the rest of my blog! 😀