A Movie Without Buñuel...? Not really

Just like with "El bruto" and "Susana", "Una mujer sin amor" (A Woman Without Love), have been recently released in region 1 by Facets under its "Cinemateca" label. It has been also released in México (region free) by Optima.

Again there are not substantial differences on the PQ of both releases, they are just "average" transfers, albeit the audio is a bit better than in the other two releases.
The only real differences are these:
1. Facets DVD contains english subs, while Optima is sans-subtitles
2. Optima DVD costs about half the price of Facets release.

About the movie: Buñuel declared "Una mujer sin amor" as his "worst" film. I am not agree, "Gran Casino" is IMO his weakest work.

"Una mujer sin amor" is not a bad movie, albeit it's perhaps with "Gran Casino" and "La hija del engaño" his least "buñuealian" movie. However it's a well crafted melodrama.
It touches the subject of the woman's oppression in a typical patriarchal society where most women's had to repress their feelings in order to be accepted by the society and even by their own family.

Having said that, "Una mujer sin amor" lacks most of the irony, sarcasm and poignant remarks about the hipocrisy of the bourgeoisie; Something that Buñuel used to do in a delightfully wicked way since his early works with Dalí until his last film.

Let's say that "Una mujer sin amor" would be among the best works directed by an average director, but for Buñuel standards it's a subpar effort. However if you don't try to compare it with "Los olvidados" "El ángel exterminador", "Viridiana", etc. while watching it, you may really enjoy it.

Finally this movie, as his early directorial efforts in México, are really important, because if not for these "little and unknown movies", masterpieces like the aformentioned films, plus Nazarín, Él, Simón del desierto, Ensayo de un crimen, and the movies from his second french period, wouldn't have been possible at all. These "little films" offered Buñuel the chance to direct again, and by doing so, one of the greatest directors ever wasn't lost.

We should remember that Buñuel had to leave Spain because of Franco. He had to leave France because his films and ideas weren't welcome by the establishment at that time, and then the war didn't allow him to comeback. He had to leave USA as another victim of the "red paranoia" and reactionary atmosphere created by the McCarthysm.

That's the value of "Una mujer sin amor".
Think on this terms: Without the commercial success of films like "Gran Casino" and "Una mujer sin amor"... masterworks like "The Exterminating Angel", "The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie", etc. most likely couldn't have been done later.

7/10