Viridiana (1961)

In Luis Buñuel’s controversial masterpiece, a novice nun gets more than she bargains for when she turns her dead uncle’s estate into a home for beggars.

Luis Buñuel returned to Spain from a long period of exile in Mexico to make Viridiana, but the result was banned by Franco’s government and denounced by the Vatican as blasphemous. It’s the story of an unworldly nun, Viridiana (Silvia Pinal), who goes to stay with her lecherous uncle (Fernando Rey), who kills himself after nearly raping her. Viridiana attempts to appease her guilt for his suicide by making his home a sanctuary for vagabonds and cripples. Ever the antagonist of religious piety, Buñuel shows the futility of Viridiana’s self-righteous efforts to tame this unruly mob.

In the film’s most famous scene, a drunken banquet freezes into a tableau resembling Leonardo Da Vinci’s Renaissance masterpiece, The Last Supper. The film won the Palme d’Or at the 1961 Cannes Film Festival.

1961 Spain, Mexico
Directed by
Luis Buñuel
Written by
Luis Buñuel, Julio Alejandro
Featuring
Silvia Pinal, Francisco Rabal, Fernando Rey

Ranked in The Greatest Films of All Time poll

Sight and Sound

Who voted for Viridiana

Critics

Luciano Barisone
Switzerland/Italy
Robert Beeson
UK
Moinak Biswas
India
Anton Dolin
Russia
Desirée de Fez
Spain
Richard T Kelly
UK
Paul O'Callaghan
UK/Germany

Directors

Roy Andersson
Margot Benacerraf
Venezuela
Natalia Cabral
Dominican Republic
Denis Coté
Canada
Michel Franco
Mexico
Gonzalo García-Pelayo
Spain
Natesh Hegde
India
Sir Horace Ové
UK
Alexander Payne
USA
Peter Strickland
UK
Carlos Vermut
Spain
Lulu Wang
USA

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