Viridiana poster & wallpaper

Silvia Pinal, Francisco Rabal, Fernando Rey

On the eve of taking her vows to be a nun, a pious young woman makes a fateful last visit to the home of her lecherous uncle.

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5,154 ratings

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R, 1 hr. 30 min.

Directed by: Luis Buñuel

Release Date: May 1, 1961

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DVD Release Date: February 28, 2006

Stats: 339 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (339)

  • SirPant
    October 2, 2009
    SirPant
    A grand incitement of all that's wrong with the world, it?s funny, Viridiana probably was dated for a time but actually seems quite apt in today's society. Classic Bunuel who managed to kick up a stink just as he'd been forgiven for the last one. All directors should have a bit o...( read more)f Bunuel in them or they just shouldn't make films!
  • flixsterman
    September 22, 2009
    flixsterman
    "What a heavy burden God has laid on men! I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind." - Ecclesiastes 1:13-14
  • binky013
    April 4, 2009
    binky013
    Maybe because I didn't see this when it first arrived on the scene, I have to say that nearly 50 years later, it actually strikes me as dated and, in many ways trite. Of course in its day, I don't doubt that it was shockingly controversial, and who can knock anything that can ti...( read more)e Francisco Franco's undies in a knot. Worse yet for me, I wasn't raised a Jesuit, so I may be lacking in the kind of obsessive love-hate relationship intensity that is presented here in terms of Catholicism and Christianity in general.

    I am, up front, a Christian, but I find the assault on Christianity to be pretty harmless, although moderately interesting.

    What I don't see the critics talking about nearly as much, is the sexual perversity of the movie, which strikes a much louder chord with audiences of any time, I'm guessing. From the bizarre desire of an uncle for his niece, and the strange machinations to which he resorts in order to seduce her, to the menage a trois ending, I'd have to say if there's anything that's going to "entertain" a viewer today, this would be more likely. That one image of the maid biting the cousin's hand is surely as provocative, from a cinematic viewpoint, as any other image in the film

    Sadly, the revolutionary quality of this film is lost on someone who may have read too many books and seen too many movies over the course of a lifetime.
  • mistershinobi
    August 31, 2008
    mistershinobi
    Most people see Buñuel's films as strictly surreal and shocking as if that were the most important feature of his outstanding filmography. But, after seeing two of his best films ("Viridiana" and "Los Olvidados") I can asure you that the most interesting element in his style is h...( read more)is ability to be timeless: his movies, from the plot to the performances and, mostly, the direction and cinematography, could've been done back in the day or just a couple of years ago. His films won't get old as he touches universal themes.

    I loved how he managed to create such a compelling female character as Viridiana (back in the day when Silvia Pinal wasn't a joke as she is nowadays) even with her huge flaws and issues. The pain she suffers is catapulted towards the audience in every single scene and, after being introduced to the horrible real world Buñuel shows us, we understand why she didn't want to have contact with it in the first place.

    I usually hate social criticism in movies and art as I'm a really antisocial person (that's why I love indie filmmaking: it focuses on emotions and moments rather than society and politics) but I love the way Buñuel presents his opinions here and in "Los Olvidados" as a collage of metaphors rather than transforming a beautiful film into a pamphlet or some sort of political agenda. The most amazing metaphor here is the way Jorge, Viridiana's cousin, "saves" a dog from his owner who was making it run under the carriage at a tremendous speed, hurting it, by buying it. He thinks he is making something good for the world but when he turns his back from the road, another carriage comes into frame with another dog tied to its bottom, running and suffering as the first dog. That's only a tiny signal before the masterful final chapter when we learn that being a good person and winning a piece of Heaven for ourselves isn't always as easy or obvious as we think.

    For a moment or two, we think Buñuel is trying to teach us that faith and a good heart are powerful weapons to fight reality but suddenly, he tells us that this world is so screwed up that there's no such thing as a good person and faith and God are kind of useless because the human being is the one in charge of making the right choices in life.

    Breathtaking from start to finish.
  • emerson17
    July 19, 2008
    emerson17
    Blind Jesus Christ, a lepper in a bride dress, upper class antics and sexual depravity again. Hell, I'd like to be sent in this sick universe once and for all.
    Or am I already there ?
  • catbox9
    November 20, 2009
    catbox9
    Luis Buñel's Viridiana is about a nun of the same name. At the beginning of the film a different nun tells her that her uncle and only relative is dying and she should visit him. The uncle is in love with her and tries to seduce her saying she looks like his dead wife. He convinc...( read more)es her he raped her hoping she won't return to the covenant but this doesn't work and he tells her that was just a lie. She leaves quite furious. The uncle hangs himself afterwords and she returns to his house to care for things. There, she decides to no longer be a nun and instead take in a bunch of homeless people. At the same time her uncle's illegitimate son moves in. The homeless people take advantage of their good deeds.

    Although Franco invited Buñel to return to Spain to make this film, he was unhappy with the result and it was banned in Spain for 16 years. This film was also condemned by the Catholic church who called it blasphemous. Despite this, the film received mostly positive reviews and was voted the top film at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival. Buñel is generally regarded as the greatest Spanish language director and this is his most well-regarded film. This film is generally considered the greatest Spanish language film ever made. I speak Spanish and this is the first Spanish film I've ever watched. I must say I was rather disappointed. The story was rather strange and I had very little interest in the characters. I wouldn't recommend this although I wouldn't say it's controversial.

    59/100
    D+
  • Epicouros
    November 6, 2009
    Epicouros
    filmed in Mexico ....that period ,Luis Buñuel made 3 of his best films ....
    Viridiana , the Angel , and Simon of desert . i believe that somebody must see these films as a trilogy
  • ElCochran90
    October 21, 2009
    ElCochran90
    "Ya decía yo que mi prima Viridiana acabaría jugando al tute conmigo."

    VIRIDIANA (1961)


    Director: Luis Buñuel
    País: México / España
    Género: Drama
    Duración: 90 minutos

    ...( read more)om/albums/ww125/ElCochran90/?action=view¤t=Viridiana.jpg" target="_blank">Viridiana,Silvia Pinal,Fernando Rey,Luis Bunuel,Luis Buñuel

    SPANISH REVIEW:

    Ser un personal admirador de Luis Buñuel conlleva, de alguna manera, demasiada responsabilidad en cuanto a admiración artística y estética se refiere. Prohibida en España y totalmente denunciada por el Vaticano, Viridiana es una de las mejores películas mexicanas de todos los tiempos, una coproducción escandalosa con España que alude al despertar del espiritualismo del ser humano y referencia las emociones más controversiales que una persona, independientemente de sus creencias y posturas religiosas en particular, suele guardar en las capas más íntimas de su persona. Buñuel aún se aferra a La Edad de Oro del cine mexicano y le añade simbolismos pequeños encarnados por objetos que todo el tiempo estuvieron ahí, hasta que se decide mostrarse en pantalla de manera repentina. Probablemente sería este estilo de filmación y misticismo parcial el cual inspiraría a Tarkovsky optar por su profunda religiosidad y crear una de las mejores películas en la historia del cine: Andrey Rublyov (1966). Sin embargo, el maestro Luis Buñuel conglomera símbolos misteriosos y los esparce en cada escena mostrada a través de una cámara que, implícitamente, lleva al espectador a la epifánica conclusión de que la película tiene demasiados ideales anárquicos que mostrar, una vez más atacando a la institución de la Iglesia Católica y a la pretenciosa gente que la conforma.

    Viridiana es una monja idealista que está punto de tomar sus últimos votos. A petición de la Madre Superiora, Viridiana visita a su tío Don Jaime, un hombre quien le proveyó de bienes y financió su educación. Ella posee una opinión considerablemente baja acerca de su personalidad; sin embargo, acepta finalmente la petición antes de consolidar su carrera religiosa. Cuando llega a su mansión, se encuentra simplemente con un conserje, un ama de llaves y con un hombre viviendo solitariamente, afligiéndose constantemente por la muerte de su esposa, una mujer quien poseía una gran semejanza física con Viridiana, lo cual causará que ella se enfrente a un destino brutal. Luis Buñuel ganó una Palma de Oro en el Festival Internacional de Cine de Cannes de 1961, la cual empató con Henri Colpi por su película Une Aussi Longue Abscence (1961).

    Dos leyendas inmortales del cine, una mexicana (Silvia Pinal, quien interpreta a Viridiana) y otra española (Fernando Rey, quien interpreta al tío Don Jaime), colisionan en un choque masivo de alegoría religiosa, temas delicados vistos desde un punto de vista blasfemo y escándalo sexual. La delicadeza de Buñuel para dividir la historia de la monja Viridiana en diversos capítulos puede ser una estructura narrativa cuyas principales características puedan ser comparadas inmediatamente con cualquier texto bíblico que use a la prostitución, el rechazo de la sumisión personal a la voluntad de Dios y la falsa ilusión del hombre en cuanto a que él es el dueño de su vida como sus elementos epifánicos principales. Es ésta estructura narrativa la que divide a la historia en diferentes capas, cada una de ellas representando distintas debilidades de la irrevocable y fácilmente corruptible condición humana. Más que un ataque indirecto a la institución de la Iglesia, lo cual resultó en una reacción violenta y más que obvia por parte del Vaticano, el personaje sumamente femenino y parcialmente estereotípico de Viridiana puede ser contrastado con la forzadamente incrédula personalidad de Nazarín, un hombre que debía presenciar hechos increíbles y ser objeto de visiones reveladoras para poder justificar la Fe, algo que no requiere de dichos elementos. Viridiana, por su lado, expresamente intenta alejarse de la voluntad de Dios pese a las advertencias de la Madre Superiora, explicándole claramente la soberbia que dicha decisión implicaba.

    Por las características previamente mencionadas, Viridiana se divide en dos capítulos, los cuales podrían ser titulados como "La Pasión de Viridiana" y "La Última Cena". En el primer capítulo, es su propio egoísmo y orgullo, los cuales son probablemente involuntarios en ella, lo que la hacen decidir alejarse de la voluntad de Dios, tomar decisiones por su cuenta y hacer justicia por sus propias manos. Sin embargo, esta falsedad es enaltecida por la perspectiva idealista que posee hacia el mundo. Esta visión es rota en pedazos a partir de la violación que sufre por parte de su tío, un hombre cuyos deseos carnales eran su máxima prioridad y, una vez satisfechas en el proceso de llenar un vacío insuperable según su mentalidad, acaricia su navaja con forma de crucifijo y se suicida antes de que pueda ser denunciado a las autoridades. Este hecho insólito arranca el segundo capítulo, donde Viridiana decide aceptar a una amplia comunidad de indigentes a la mansión que ahora ha está siendo envidiada por su brusco primo Jorge, interpretado por Jorge Rabal, culminando en una de las más blasfemas representaciones de La Última Cena jamás filmadas. Por consiguiente, la película no posee una sola secuencia climática, sino dos. La justicia adquiere un alto tono de relatividad. Desde un punto de vista católico y posiblemente cristiano, el final devastador que muestra a Viridiana completamente perdida, alejada de Dios, es certero. El Dios representado por Buñuel no necesariamente se interpreta como un control de población o como el opio de las masas, sino como el único camino para lograr alcanzar la divinidad que humanamente no es posible conseguir. Materialismo contra la religión es un concepto cuya ambición sobrepasa los límites de cualquier expectativa, especialmente las expectativas que se tenían en los sesentas. Dicho esto, las principales ideas expresadas por Viridiana forzosamente debían poseer cualidades catárticas, principalmente estableciendo el hecho de que la caridad no puede ofuscar la corrupción de una sociedad tan degradada y que el hombre, por su propia cuenta, jamás podrá alcanzar la vida eterna, no importa cuántas normas y conductas supuestamente religiosas y universalmente correctas uno aplique en su vida. El único juez es Dios, no el orgullo humano proveniente de un ateísmo incorregible.

    El homenaje de Luis Buñuel a un neorrealismo deprimente resulta en una de sus películas más brutalmente honestas y memorables. Viridiana es más que un llamado a la vida; es una invitación a remover la venda que nublan los ojos humanos de cualquier forma de comunicación que Dios pueda tener con nosotros. En este caso, una actuación magistral y poderosa por parte de Silvia Pinal era necesaria para fortalecer las conclusiones a las que Viridiana, pese a su corta duración, logra llegar sin la más mínima dificultad. Buñuel aún no tenía un completo control artístico sobre sus producciones, algo que sucedería hasta El Ángel Exterminador (1962), pero la poética cinematografía y las locaciones fílmicas de España añaden efectividad al trabajo de un elenco mayormente mexicano, convirtiéndola en un orgullo para México. Su poder puede causar revelaciones difíciles de aceptar la primera vez, pero ése es uno de los mensajes más verdaderos que a Dios mismo se le ha ocurrido transmitir a través de la magia del cine.

    100/100

    ENGLISH REVIEW:

    To be a personal admirer of Luis Buñuel somehow entails a great deal of responsibility, particularly concerning artistic and aesthetic admiration. Banned in Spain and utterly denounced by the Vatican, Viridiana is one of the best Mexican films of all times, a scandalous Spanish coproduction that alludes to the awakening of the spiritualism of the human being and references the most controversial emotions that a person, independently of the beliefs and religious opinions he or she may particularly have, is used to hide inside the deepest layers of his/her persona. Buñuel is still attached to the Golden Age of Mexican cinema and he adds to it rather small symbolisms that are embodied by objects that were there all the time until he decides to show them on screen in a sudden way. This filmmaking style and partial mysticism were the ones that would probably inspire Tarkovsky to opt for his profound religiosity in order to create one of the best films in cinema history: Andrey Rublyov (1966). Nevertheless, master Luis Buñuel conglomerates mysterious symbols and scatters them throughout each portrayed scene through a camera that, implicitly, leads the spectator to the epiphanic conclusion that the film has several anarchic ideals to show while attacking the institution of the Catholic Church and the pretentious people that constitute it.

    Viridiana is an idealist nun who is about to take her last vows. At the request of her Mother Superior, Viridiana visits his uncle Don Jaime, a man who provided for her and founded her education. She possesses a considerably low opinion regarding his personality; however, she finally accepts the petition before consolidating her religious career. When she arrives to the mansion, she simply finds a caretaker, a housekeeper and a man living solitarily, constantly getting upset because of the death of his wife, a woman who had a high physical resemblance to Viridiana, a fact that would cause her to face a brutal destiny. Luis Buñuel won a Golden Palm at the Cannes Film festival of 1961, a prize that he shared with Henri Corpi and his film Une Aussi Longue Absence (1961).

    Two inmortal legends of cinema, one of them Mexican (Silvia Pinal, who plays the role of Viridiana) and the other one Spanish (Fernando Rey, who plays the role of uncle Don Jaime), collide in a massive clash of religious allegory, delicate subject matter seen from a blasphemous point of view and sexual scandal. The delicacy of Buñuel for dividing the story of the soon-to-be-nun Viridiana in several chapters can be a narrative structure which main characteristics can be immediately compared with any biblical text that uses prostitution, the rejection of the personal submission to the will of God and the false illusion of man concerning that he is the owner of his life as its principal epiphanic elements. This is the narrative structure that divides the story in different layers, each one of them representing different weaknesses of the irrevocable and easily-corruptible human condition. More than being an indirect attack towards the institution of the Church, an attack that resulted in a more-than-obvious violent reaction from the Vatican, the exceedingly female and partially stereotypical character of Viridiana can be contrasted with the forcedly skeptical personality of Nazarín, a man who had to witness unusual events and to be object of revealing visions so he could justify Faith, something that does not require such elements. Viridiana, on the other hand, expressly attempts to stay away from the will of God despite the warnings she received from her Mother Superior, clearly explaining to her the haughtiness that such decision implied.

    Because of the aforementioned characteristics, Viridiana is divided into two chapters, chapters that could be titled as "The Passion of Viridiana" and "The Last Supper". In the first chapter, it is her own arrogance and pride, characteristics that are probably intentional within her personality, the ones that make her to stay away from the will of God, to take decisions by her own and to make justice with her own hands. Nonetheless, such falseness is enhanced by the idealistic perspective she possesses towards the world. This vision is shattered into pieces since the moment she is raped by her uncle, a man whose carnal desires were his most relevant priorities and, once that they were satisfied in the process of filling an insurmountable void according to his mentality, caresses his crucifix-shaped knife and commits suicide before he could be reported to the authorities. This shocking event marks the start of the second chapter where Viridiana decides to invite a wide community of poverty-stricken individuals to the mansion that is now being envied by her brusque cousin Jorge, played by actor Jorge Rabal, culminating in one of the most blaspheme representations of The Last Supper ever filmed. Consequently, the movie does not posses one single climatic sequence, but two. Justice acquires a high tone of relativity. From a Catholic point of view and possibly also a Christian one, the devastating finale that shows Viridiana as a completely lost and estranged-from-God woman, is accurate. The God represented by Buñuel is not necessarily interpreted as a population control or as the opium of the masses, but as the only path in order to reach the divinity that, humanly, is not possible to gain. Materialism against religion is a concept which ambition surpasses the limits of any expectation, especially the expectations that were held in the 60s. Having said this, the main ideas expressed by Viridiana forcedly had to possess cathartic qualities, principally establishing the fact that charity cannot dazzle the corruption of a much diminished society and that man will never be able to reach eternal life by his own, no matter how many norms and supposedly religious and universally correct conducts one applies in his life. The only judge is God, not the human pride that comes from an incorrigible atheism.

    The homage of Luis Buñuel to a depressing neorealism results in one of his most brutally honest and memorable feature films. Viridiana is more than a simple call to life; it is an invitation to remove the bandage that clouds the human eyes from any form of communication that God may have with us. In this case, one masterly powerful performance from Silvia Pinal was necessary to strengthen the conclusions to which Viridiana, despite its relatively short running time, achieves to reach without the slightest difficulty. Buñuel had not a complete artistic control over his productions, something that would happen until El Ángel Exterminador (1962), but the poetical cinematography and the filming locations of Spain add effectiveness to the work of a majorly Mexican cast, converting it into a prideful success for Mexico. Its power may cause revelations that will be difficult to accept when witnessed for the first time, but that is one of the most truthful messages that God Himself has thought of transmitting through the magic of cinema.

    100/100
  • AngelitadeAmor
    September 19, 2009
    AngelitadeAmor
    Espectaculares películas de la época de oro..
  • jschartrand
    August 19, 2009
    jschartrand
    Si le film s'installe à tâtons, on est vite remercier de notre patience par l'ironie et les lourdes significations qui font le génie de Bunuel, donnant ici une toute nouvelle signification à la dernière cène et à l'ingratitude. Une fin brillante pour un film quelque peu inégale,...( read more) mais tout autant choquant et intelligent.

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Viridiana Trivia

  • Who starred in Luis Buñuel's Viridiana, El Angel Exterminador and Simon del Desierto?  Answer »
  • She was the devout innocent girl whom fernando Rey and Francisco Rabal lusted after in Luis Buñuel's "Viridiana" (1961):  Answer »
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