I am new to Bunuel's work. My thoughts on 'Viridiana.'

I have seen "Viridiana" twice - the first time , it was already underway on tv and I had to watch it from the middle of the film. I needed to see it from the beginning , which I did the second time.

* Spoliers*


Firstly I must say that I found the character and motivations of "Don Jaime" to be repulsive , to say the least. I feared for the character of Viridiana while he was around her. The character of Don Jaime is very much that of a predator. He is a character without morals. When he committed suicide , he cared not that , considering what had happened , Viridiana might feel as though she played a part in his decision. ( I firmly believe that no one should feel or take responsibility for someone's suicide , it's the person's decision.)He was a selfish man , thinking only of himself and his desires.

Viridiana undergoes a transformation of sorts. In my opinion , she remains uncertain about what exactly transpired between Don Jaime and herself , thereby causing her to believe she shouldn't join the convent. Nowadays , this would certainly not be a reason for not becoming a nun , but apparently it was an issue to her then. I wanted her to remain naive and innocent , but because of the incident with Don Jaime , and other things ,sadly , she eventually loses much of that innocence.
The character of Jorge is that of the "city slicker" , in a way. The townspeople are unaquainted with his lifestyle and ways. He's a jerk , but has a charm about him. I believe that he tries to pull everything together around the manor , but he is a chauvinist and quarrels arise when things don't go exactly his way.

I don't have any respect for the character of Ramona .She was so complicit whenever Don Jaime told her to do things , even though she knew they were wrong. Now , it was probably custom for a houshold servant to behave like that , but she could have decided against doing the things that she did.

The much talked about ending scene was a good ending , in my opinion. I understand that the ending was changed , due to it being too obvious. When the ending was changed , Brunuel liked it even more and I concur. I am finding that I love it when director's use things like glances , body language ,etc. , to convey meaning. Glances and body language naturally convey meaning , it's probably the formost way we communicate , but this is something that is terribly underutilized in films nowadays , and even moreso in American films. I hesitate to use the word "coded" , but in a sense it is. Subtlety.

I am very interesteed in becoming better aquainted with Bunuel's work.

"I detest cheap sentiment." - Margo Channing (All About Eve)