The Diary of a Chambermaid (1964)
Dir: Luis Buñuel
IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058249/
I'm sorry to say I didn't really enjoy this one.
The plot seemed meandering, I didn't sense a whole lot of focus. It just felt rather dull, and never really engaged me. The characters were interesting enough, though I suspect I miss out on a lot by not having a whole lot of knowledge about french history.
The cinematography was excellent, however. This film has some great black and white shots, but unfortunately the rest of the movie isn't quite up to par. It's technically well made, but it just didn't do anything for me.
The only full-length film by Luis Buñuel I've seen is The Discreet Charm of The Bourgeoisie, which I loved, so I guess I was expecting more out of the satire in this movie. It was certainly abundant, but it's not anywhere near as witty, and it feels kind of heavy-handed. Oh well. Buñuel had one of the most prolific careers of any filmmaker, so I'm not going to let this discourage me from seeing more of his films, as many of them have gotten quite a bit of critical acclaim. I really enjoyed The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie and Un Chien Andalou, so hopefully I'll have better luck with the next one I watch (which will either be The Phantom of Liberty, The Exterminating Angel, L'Age D'Or, or Belle de Jour).
IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058249/
I'm sorry to say I didn't really enjoy this one.
The plot seemed meandering, I didn't sense a whole lot of focus. It just felt rather dull, and never really engaged me. The characters were interesting enough, though I suspect I miss out on a lot by not having a whole lot of knowledge about french history.
The cinematography was excellent, however. This film has some great black and white shots, but unfortunately the rest of the movie isn't quite up to par. It's technically well made, but it just didn't do anything for me.
The only full-length film by Luis Buñuel I've seen is The Discreet Charm of The Bourgeoisie, which I loved, so I guess I was expecting more out of the satire in this movie. It was certainly abundant, but it's not anywhere near as witty, and it feels kind of heavy-handed. Oh well. Buñuel had one of the most prolific careers of any filmmaker, so I'm not going to let this discourage me from seeing more of his films, as many of them have gotten quite a bit of critical acclaim. I really enjoyed The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie and Un Chien Andalou, so hopefully I'll have better luck with the next one I watch (which will either be The Phantom of Liberty, The Exterminating Angel, L'Age D'Or, or Belle de Jour).
posted by will at
11:00 PM
