Retro Film Review: Diary of a Chambermaid (Le journal d'une femme de chambre, 1964)
In one of the Marty Mystere comic books, a shady character of a tough mercenary reveals his intellectual side by quoting a scene from a Luis Buñuel film. This scene, as surreal as some of Buñuel's movies, strengthens the perception of Buñuel's work being appreciated only by intellectuals, snobs, or an art-oriented audience. Buñuel's lack of popularity among the mainstream audience could be explained by his early works in the late 1920s, which branded his films as too shocking and utterly beyond the comprehension of an average moviegoer. This is quite a shame, since Buñuel in his latter years mixed his trademark surrealism with irony and dark humour more suitable for this cynical, nihilistic age. Perhaps the best introduction to the works of Buñuel is Diary of a Chambermaid, his 1964 film that, at least superficially, looks more mainstream than others. It lacks most of Buñuel's surrealism and is actually a remake of a 1946 Hollywood film.
The plot, based on the novel by Octave Mirbeau, takes place in early 1930s rural France. Célestine (played by Jeanne Moreau) is a chambermaid from Paris who comes to work in the house of a local middle-class family. Its patron, old Monsieur Rabour (played by Jean Ozenne), has developed a bizarre shoe fetish. His daughter, Madame Monteil (played by Françoise Lugagne) spends most of her time locked in a room where she performs strange experiments, while her husband, Monsieur Monteil (played by Michel Piccoli), has a nasty habit of impregnating every woman who works in their household. All local men are attracted to Célestine, who is viewed as a sexually "experienced" woman from the big city. That includes the servant Joseph (played by Georges Géret), whose fascist views are as revolting as his unhealthy desires towards little girls. Célestine is quite aware of that, so she starts manipulating men's desires for her own benefit.
Those who expect Buñuel's trademark surrealism in this film would be greeted with quite the opposite. Diary of a Chambermaid is almost a cinéma vérité film, shot in black-and-white photography and without original music. However, thanks to characters written by Jean-Claude Carrière (who appears in the film in a small role as a priest), the touch of Buñuel is quite evident. Nobody in this film, regardless of their class or gender, is spared from irony, dark humour, and morally ambiguous characterisation. Although the church and bourgeoisie remain Buñuel's favourite targets, this film gives a harsh, unforgiving portrayal of society in general; in the case of 1930s France, its short-sightedness, selfishness, and corruption paved the way for the rise of fascism and ultimate disaster. In this film, Buñuel is also one of the first filmmakers to explicitly link fascism with sexual perversion—a motif that would become quite popular in European cinema of the 1970s.
The acting in this film is superb. Jeanne Moreau plays a manipulative character who deliberately projects a different image (obedient employee, bad girl, righteous avenger) to different persons, and such a task is accomplished with great ease. The other actors are also very good, since they create a lot of laughs without turning their characters into caricatures. Buñuel's work here is, however, short of a masterpiece. The cinéma vérité approach made this film rather visually unattractive. The passage of time in the film isn't adequately hinted, so some viewers might get confused. Finally, the last scene in the film is too cryptic, at least for those who aren't familiar with some details of Buñuel's biography. But, Diary of a Chambermaid is still a very good film that should serve as a good introduction to one of the world's greatest filmmakers.
RATING: 7/10 (+++)
(Note: The text in its original form was posted in Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.movies.reviews on May 1st 2000)
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