Viridiana (1961) — A Patriarchal Surrealist Tale by Buñuel
There is no doubt that Luis Buñuel was one of the foremost artists of the twentieth century. He filmed in different countries, in different styles and yet we are able to recognize his cinematographic abilities as well as to be delighted by them. I simply love his French period, which includes works such as Belle de Jour (1967) and Tristana (1970) — both with the splendid Catherine Deneuve in the leading role. He would cast another muse for more than one movie, who followed him begging for more roles: the Spanish Silvia Pinal. Her translucent paleness and blank expressions are similar to Deneuve’s. Both actresses interpreted women in patriarchal societies, being transgressors to their repressive values. It’s well known that Buñuel’s signatures in his long career involve a sarcastic criticism on Catholicism, on the hypocrite bourgeoisie and on other social facets which he could keenly muddle these organized systems during the repressive Franco Era, for instance. Not to mention his surrealist aesthetics as it offers a clever touch to his critical motivations. When the Spanish artist launched his both Mexican and Spanish film Viridiana in 1961, Franco, who ruled over Spain at that time as a military dictator, tried with no success to have the movie banned in the country. Thus, it is important to revisit the relevance of Buñuel’s movie as it is an epitome of the position of a woman in a fascist society.
When the novice Viridiana (Silvia Pinal) is told by her mother superior that her uncle Don Jaime (Fernando Rey) desires to see her, the young woman feels reluctant once she barely knows him. She ends up visiting him in his big old farm only to find out that he had bizarre intentions with her. Don claims that Viridiana resembles his deceased wife a lot and begs the novice to dress up just like her in the day they got married — This fetish reminded me of that kinky character from Belle de Jour who masturbates over her (Belle) as she is in a coffin during a fake funeral. Don Jaime reveals himself even more strange, he wants to get married to his niece. The repulsion that this all caused in the protagonist was not enough for him to give up on his wish. He asks his servant Ramona (Margarita Lozano) to poison her so he can take advantage of her. The hesitating Ramona obeys Don Jaime’s orders once he gave shelter to her and her tomboy daughter, Rita. Although the man of the house initially intended to rape her, in fact, he took advantage of her by kissing her breasts, he would say that he violated her so she could stay with him and leave the convent. It’s important to emphasize the lurid symbolism employed by Buñuel throughout the movie. He used animals and other organic stuff to represent powerful forces manipulating the characters. When Viridiana spends her first night in her uncle’s house, she as a sleepwalker, brings ashes to his bed while he tries out her shoes and corset. Whereas the ashes implies a Christian symbol of penance and death, the last one ends up happening to him, Jaime’s obsession with women is a result of his loneliness which made him self-centered, as he says, so he wants to fulfill his irrepressible desire.
Ramona’s reckless child Rita says to an old servant of the farm that she saw a huge black bull entering her bedroom. Maybe this refers to the ravishing creature in the shape of a man, this man being Don Jaime, who is dominating and controls everyone around him. Rita fears the patriarchal figure but she doesn’t respect the women in the house. She tells Viridiana that she saw her changing her clothes the other night. However, things will change when Don strangles himself with the little girl’ string. He could not bear his niece’s rejection and found in his suicide a way to make her feel guilty and stay in the house. Thus, Viridiana has her moral values shaken as she annihilated the masculine figure and, as a sinner, she must make up for it. Her penance will be helping a couple of beggars to settle themselves in the farm. Each one of them represents those who are marginalized in the society. There is a prostitute, a dwarf, a leper and others that show a realistic frame from a country under a dictatorship which its representative was said to be sent by Divine Providence to save the country from chaos and poverty. Well, you can imagine what sort of reaction the government and the catholic church had when the movie was released. Buñuel did not really give a damn about their response, he wanted to provoke the wrath of two hypocrite institutions that perpetuated a regime against any form of liberal or critical speech.
When Jorge moves to the farm with his then girlfriend, he finds Viridiana’s benevolent act doubtful. He likes rock music, sleeping with different women and teases his cousin. Ramona is also vulnerable next to him. Jorge is the representation of the modern man, the transgression of the moral values that Viridiana stands for. His masculine presence will restore the manly force which subjugates women. A mouse wanders through the house’s attic when a cat jumps into it. This metaphor symbolizes once again a powerful force manipulating another. The weak being devoured by the strong. It functions as the hierarchical dynamic between women and men. The Iberian director intended to free both Viridiana and Ramona from the traditional roles imposed to women during that time. The final act represents their definite step to Jorge’s world, the modern one. Even though they broke with sexual repression, they still were under a man’s control. This means that it is really difficult for a woman to reach her own freedom since patriarchal values are rooted deeply and firmly within the Western society. When the family goes to the city, the beggars invade the house and throw a messy banquet. They get drunk and reenact Da Vinci’s Last Supper while Handel’s Hallelujah is on the gramophone. This was, definitely, the greatest “fuck you” from Buñuel to the avid catholic leader of Spain. It showed that even the ones who are powerless could mock a fascist government that did not worry about them. The beggars turned the banquet into a beautiful chaos just like Vera Chytilová did in her film Daisies in order to provoke men ruling a country through moral authority and social privilege that give no chance to those who are not in the upper class. When Viridiana returns home, she is assaulted by two of the beggars. She is able to escape when Jorge bribed one of them to kill the would-be rapist. The traumatic experiences that the protagonist went through were irreversible. She is terrified yet aroused by her new possibilities. Viridiana is now an empowered victim, just like Deneuve’s characters are in Belle de Jour and Tristana. Although all of them needed a man to taste freedom, they could no longer fit in traditional roles. Their transgression through sexuality challenged mightily the notion of women as pure, frigid, and whose sexual pleasure was a taboo. Viridiana, Ramona and George all play the same game now, metaphorically shown as Rita burns Viridiana’s crown of thorns and as the three of them play cards together. Her charity instinct gives away to a life of polyamory. Luis Buñuel’s movie won the Palme d’Or at the 1961 Cannes Film Festival. Despite the wrath it provoked in the authoritarian institutions of that time, the film couldn’t be erased since it stood as a social manifesto, inspiring other people to film their own revolution. The surrealist symbols played a vital role in awaking the subjectivity in minds manipulated by cultural censorship.
