A surrealist atheist in a Spanish Fascist's court

Spanish film director Luis Buñuel used to say, "thank God I'm an atheist." The highly outspoken, anti-fascist filmmaker is best known in the world of cinema for his early collaborations with Salvador Dalí and surrealist films such as "Un Chien Analou" and "The Golden Age." While these two crowning achievements garnered him international praise and jumpstarted his long and prosperous career, Buñuel was also considered to be somewhat of a political menace. \n"Viridiana" was shot in 1961 and was Buñuel's first film in Spain since his departure to France and later Mexico in 1939. Upon its release "Viridiana" was not only banned in Spain (a ban that lasted till the '70s after the fall of Franco's regime) but it was also fully denounced by the Vatican for being inappropriate and blatantly anti-Catholic. \nViridiana (Silvia Pinal) is a young, beautiful woman on her way to becoming a nun and entering a life of religious piety, chastity and above all, a strict moral lifestyle. Her lonely uncle Don Jaime (Fernando Rey), who has just lost his wife, summons his niece to visit him before she makes her final vows and in turn he asks for her hand in marriage because of her striking resemblance to the said wife. Viridiana denies, Don Jaime drugs her in order to take care of his physical desires, then hangs himself and leaves his estate and wealth to Viridiana and his son Jorge, thus prolonging her path to sisterhood and creating tensions in the manor. \n"Viridiana" is very much a film that deals with issues of lust, devotion, love, sin, civil humanity and, of course, religion. The film is a scathing look at both social politics in Spain and a departure from strict, sacred religious morals. Surrealistic images like a crucifix that doubles as a pocket knife or a scene where some drunken bums reenact the Last Supper, are examples of Buñuel's persistent desire to criticize and satirize the state of Spain during the Franco fascist regime. \nThe wonderful Criterion DVD features a stunning transfer of the film, an interview with Mexican actress Silvia Pinal and author/Buñuel expert Richard Porton and an extensive booklet featuring an essay and interview with Buñuel. The most significant extra, however, is a fascinating mini documentary about Buñuel's career from a 1964 French television show, chronicling his early work and his cinematic styles.\nBuñuel is to this day one of the most important filmmakers to come out of Spain and has no doubt influenced modern Spanish directors like Alejandro Amenábar or Pedro Almódovar, both who dabble in Buñuelesque dark humor and eroticism. "Viridiana" is an interesting vision that exposes the problems that Buñuel believed plagued Spain under fascism. It is shocking, funny and disturbing, but also has a certain level of humanity and questions morality, beliefs and basic human desires.