Diary of a Chambermaid (Le Journal d'une femme de chambre) (1964)

85% of critics liked it
(20 reviews)
82% of users liked it
(3,702 ratings)

The second screen version of Octave Mirbeau's novel (originally filmed in 1946 by Jean Renoir), Diary of a Chambermaid charts the ambitions of Celestine (Jeanne Moreau), a woman who comes to work in the 1930s for a Normandy estate occupied by Monsieur Rabour (Jean Ozenne), his daughter (Francoise… More The second screen version of Octave Mirbeau's novel (originally filmed in 1946 by Jean Renoir), Diary of a Chambermaid charts the ambitions of Celestine (Jeanne Moreau), a woman who comes to work in the 1930s for a Normandy estate occupied by Monsieur Rabour (Jean Ozenne), his daughter (Francoise Lugagne), and the daughter's husband, Monsieur Montiel (Michel Piccoli). Celestine quickly learns that M. Rabour is a more or less harmless boot fetishist, his daughter a frigid woman more concerned with the family furnishings than in returning the affections of her husband, who, in turn, can't keep his hands off the servants. The gamekeeper, Joseph (Georges Geret), is a fascist who keeps his masters informed of all the doings downstairs, and the next-door neighbor (Daniel Ivernel) is a veteran who can't stand Monteil and is sharing a bed with his housekeeper. Celestine picks her way through this minefield carefully, spurning the advances of all of the men until it's convenient for her. ~ Tom Wiener, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 37 min.
Directed By: Luis Buñuel
Written By: Jean-Claude Carriere
Genres: Art House & International, Drama

In Theaters: Oct 13, 2000 Wide
On DVD: Nov 20, 2001
Studio: 20th Century-Fox

Critic Reviews

Eugene Archer, New York Times
Sadly, the intervening decades seem to have weakened Mr. Bunuel's powers. His new adaptation of Octave Mirbeau's Diary of a Chambermaid suffers in comparison with the strange but memorable version Jean Renoir did with Paulette Goddard in 1946.
Donald J. Levit, ReelTalk Movie Reviews
Second-tier compared to Buñuel's masterworks, this film is worth seeing because it is his.
, TV Guide's Movie Guide
A wonderfully vulgar film from the masterful Spanish director Luis Bunuel, Diary of a Chambermaid is an adaptation in spirit of Octave Mirbeau's novel and Jean Renoir's 1946 film.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Remarkably subtle and perceptive straightforward narrative on the rise of French fascism.
Mark Pfeiffer, Reel Times: Reflections on Cinema
Diary of a Chambermaid is a piercing examination of the bourgeoisie and its obsessions. Buñuel shows us the horrifying actions and results with varying amounts of drama and humor like only he could.
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
In the end, it's not the chambermaid's sellout that shocks us but the all-absorbing power of the bourgoisie (Bunuel's longtime enemy) against which it seems futile to revolt.
Cole Smithey, ColeSmithey.com
Utterly stunning.
James Kendrick, Q Network Film Desk
a seemingly straightforward country melodrama that becomes gradually weirder as the story progresses even though the surface never quite ruptures in absolute absurdity
Aaron Hillis, Premiere Magazine
A riveting, if not minor, Bunuelian masterwork.
Ed Gonzalez, Slant Magazine
The Diary of a Chambermaid was a crucial turning point in Luis Buñuel's career because it would officially usher in the French period of the director's later years.
Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
Interesting version of the story as slightly surreal poltiical tract by Bunuel.

Read all 11 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Matheus C

This is another Buñuelian study on the rotten core of the bourgeois, but the fact that it comes disguised as a sort of household drama makes one have to look harder to see into his agenda. The always fascinating Jeanne Moreau and the glossy widescreen cinematography make it stand out… More
This is another Buñuelian study on the rotten core of the bourgeois, but the fact that it comes disguised as a sort of household drama makes one have to look harder to see into his agenda. The always fascinating Jeanne Moreau and the glossy widescreen cinematography make it stand out among the director's other films, but I frankly prefer when he's having fun with his sardonic and sinister view of the world.
Stefanie C

amour fou?
Stella D

fairly conventional and far from buñuel's best; it's a serviceable study of the foibles of the bourgeois and hypocrisy of small town life. moreau is always watchable. i'm interested to see renoir's version with paulette goddard