{"id":36048,"date":"2016-06-28T07:57:54","date_gmt":"2016-06-28T14:57:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/?p=36048"},"modified":"2016-06-28T07:57:54","modified_gmt":"2016-06-28T14:57:54","slug":"challenge-week-25-viridiana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2016\/06\/challenge-week-25-viridiana\/","title":{"rendered":"Challenge Week 25: Viridiana"},"content":{"rendered":"

Out of the handful of Buñuel films I’ve seen, I’ve really liked some and been totally baffled by others, but I rarely feel like I totally *get* them on a first watch. In one sense, Viridiana<\/em> feels a little more straight-forward – it doesn’t have the overtly surrealist flair of Un chien andalou<\/em> or The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie<\/em>, nor the formal experimentation of That Obscure Object of Desire<\/em>. That said, it’s meant to be a “satire” and a “religious comedy” and I’m sure I didn’t get all the nuances of that aspect of the film.<\/p>\n

Viridiana is a novitiate about to take her vows when she gets invited to her uncle’s for a final visit; she doesn’t want to go, but her mother superior insists. While there, her uncle asks her to marry him, then almost rapes her, and that’s only the first section of the movie. The second section has her trying to help out a bunch of poor, diseased, and indigent folks and getting the opposite of thanks in return (and another rape attempt). If ever there were an argument for staying in the nunnery, this seems like it, but I’m not at all sure that’s what Buñuel was going for! There are a lot more religious aspects to the film, including a Sermon on the Mount-esque prayer session with Viridiana, and notably a Last Supper recreation with all the outcasts, so there’s something deeper than my admittedly sleepy first watch could grasp. Something I’ll have to read up on and rewatch with fresher eyes.<\/p>\n

\"tf-uncle-bed\"<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Anyway, despite not totally “getting it”, I did find the film quite watchable and even enjoyable despite the terrible things that happen to this woman. The cinematography and art direction are lovely, and lead actress Silvia Pinal is very effective at her shift from idealistic but wary innocence to complete loss of illusions and hope. The men around her give Polanski’s cast of misogynists in Repulsion<\/em> a run for the creepster gold medal, and the only other woman given much time, the uncle’s long-time housekeeper, is fairly diabolical, thwarting expectations that she’d be on our heroine’s side (my expectations, anyway…). The film also adds an example to Buñuel’s apparent fascination with dinner parties gone awry.<\/p>\n

There’s a lot of texture and intriguing interplay to the film, and while the underlying meaning may baffle me, the experience pleased me more than most Buñuels. (For reference, The Exterminating Angel<\/em> and Belle de jour<\/em> are the two I actively like.)<\/p>\n

\"tf-prayer\"<\/p>\n

Stats and stuff…<\/h3>\n

1961, Spain\/Mexico<\/em>
\ndirected by Luis Buñuel, written by Julio Alejandro and Luis Buñuel<\/em>
\nstarring Silvia Pinal, Francisco Rabal, Fernando Rey, Jose Calvo, Margarita Lozano<\/em><\/p>\n

I’m ranking all my Challenge films on Flickchart (as I do all the films I see), a movie-ranking website that asks you to choose your favorite between two movies until it builds a ranked list of your favorites. Just for fun, I will average out the rankings and keep a running tally of whose recommendations rank the highest. When you add a film to Flickchart, it pits it against films already on your chart to see where it should fall. Here’s how Viridiana<\/em> entered my chart:<\/p>\n

Viridiana<\/b> > The Ugly Dachshund
\nViridiana<\/b> > Johnny Tremain
\nViridiana < Magnolia<\/b>
\nViridiana < Old Yeller<\/b>
\nViridiana < Rope<\/b>
\nViridiana < Rachel Getting Married<\/b>
\nViridiana < The Garden of the Finzi-Continis<\/b>
\nViridiana < Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde<\/b> (1931)
\nViridiana<\/b> > Kill List
\nViridiana<\/b> > On the Waterfront
\nViridiana < The Kid Brother<\/b><\/p>\n

Final #904 out of 3662 films on my chart (75%)<\/p>\n

It is now my #3 Luis Buñuel film, my #26 Black Comedy, my #4 Religious Comedy, my #42 Satire, my #19 Spanish Language Film, and my #13 film of 1961.<\/p>\n

Viridiana<\/em> was recommended by Josh Haysom, a friend from the Flickcharters group on Facebook.<\/p>\n

A few more screenshots…<\/h3>\n

\"tf-abbey\"<\/p>\n

\"tf-car\"<\/p>\n

\"tf-cross\"<\/p>\n

\"tf-decadent-sets\"<\/p>\n

\"tf-uncle\"<\/p>\n

\"tf-sad\"<\/p>\n

\"tf-last-supper\"<\/p>\n

\"tf-trio\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Out of the handful of Buñuel films I’ve seen, I’ve really liked some and been totally baffled by others, but I rarely feel like I totally *get* them on a first watch. In one sense, Viridiana feels a little more straight-forward – it doesn’t have the overtly surrealist flair of Un chien andalou or The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":36060,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3027],"tags":[392,3164],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/tf-viridiana.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":35387,"url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2016\/01\/the-2016-movie-challenge-a-preview\/","url_meta":{"origin":36048,"position":0},"title":"The 2016 Movie Challenge: A Preview","author":"Jandy","date":"January 3, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Because I can't leave well enough alone, here's a brief rundown of (some of) what I'll be watching in 2016 for this crazy challenge. I currently have 50 people signed up to recommend me movies, and all but a handful have already chosen their picks, so this thing is scheduled\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2016 Movie Challenge"","block_context":{"text":"2016 Movie Challenge","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/category\/film\/2016-movie-challenge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/fc-keaton.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":36049,"url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2016\/06\/challenge-week-25-mon-oncle-antoine\/","url_meta":{"origin":36048,"position":1},"title":"Challenge Week 25: Mon Oncle Antoine","author":"Jandy","date":"June 30, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I had no idea what this movie was even about when I went into it, or even whether it was French or French Canadian - though my Canadian friends set me straight on that in a hurry when I mentioned I was about to watch it. It's set in a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2016 Movie Challenge"","block_context":{"text":"2016 Movie Challenge","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/category\/film\/2016-movie-challenge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/tf-feat1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":35505,"url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2017\/03\/2016-challenge-debrief\/","url_meta":{"origin":36048,"position":2},"title":"2016 Challenge Debrief","author":"Jandy","date":"March 15, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Well, it's been almost three months since my year-long movie challenge officially completed, and it's taken me that long to decompress, rerank everything, and generally get ready to post a recap of the year. The short version: it was awesome! I watched a ton of movies I really liked, very\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2016 Movie Challenge"","block_context":{"text":"2016 Movie Challenge","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/category\/film\/2016-movie-challenge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/crop-400-Blows-watching.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":958,"url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2008\/01\/fb100-96-the-exterminating-angel\/","url_meta":{"origin":36048,"position":3},"title":"FB100: #96 – The Exterminating Angel","author":"Jandy","date":"January 28, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"This post is part of a project to watch the Film Bloggers' 100 Favorite Non-English Films. See my progress here. Note: I have skipped #97 on the list, Satantango, because I have been unable to get it to watch and decided to move on. When I have the opportunity to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Film"","block_context":{"text":"Film","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/category\/film\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24884,"url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2011\/07\/50dmc-14-a-movie-that-made-you-cry\/","url_meta":{"origin":36048,"position":4},"title":"50DMC #14: A Movie That Made You Cry","author":"Jandy","date":"July 14, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"The 50 Day Movie Challenge asks one question every day, to be answered by a few paragraphs and a clip, if possible. Click here for the full list of questions. Today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s prompt: What's a movie that made you cry? I like to think of myself as a pretty stoic moviegoer,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Film"","block_context":{"text":"Film","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/category\/film\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Up.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":23446,"url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2011\/07\/50dmc-7-favorite-soundtrack\/","url_meta":{"origin":36048,"position":5},"title":"50DMC #7: Favorite Soundtrack","author":"Jandy","date":"July 5, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"The 50 Day Movie Challenge asks one question every day, to be answered by a few paragraphs and a clip, if possible. Click here for the full list of questions. Today's prompt: What is your favorite movie soundtrack? This one took me a while to think about, and I'll probably\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Film"","block_context":{"text":"Film","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/category\/film\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/50-Day-Challenge-07.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36048"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36048"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36048\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36060"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}