Diary of a Chambermaid (1964)

Diary of a Chambermaid
Directed by Luís Buñuel
Written by Luís Buñuel and Jean-Claude Carriere from a novel by Octave Mirbeau
1964/France/Italy
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental

 

[box] Céléstine: It’s strange, how the country always seems sad. — I guess, people don’t have much fun here.[/box]

I was underwhelmed by Luis Buñuel’s remake of Jean Renoir 1946 film of the same name.

Parisienne chambermaid Celestine (Jeanne Moreau)  finds work in the country with a most unorthodox family.  Grandpa is a foot fetishist, husband is a womanizer, and wife is a prude.  Completing the picture is a mischief-making next door neighbor and a fascist groundskeeper.

Celestine quickly has all the me wrapped around her little finger.  Things liven up even more when she begins to play detective in the murder case of a little girl.

This is thoroughly Bunuelean but I found it less quirky and amusing than his better films. I had seen it before and remembered very little about it.  This rewatching looks like it is headed for the same fate.

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