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http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/direct-chair/bunuel.htm
Mexico / Spain 1961

 

In Viridiana, Pinal stars as a former nun who, believing she has been defiled by a relative, abandons nunhood and attempts to repent and lead a morally pure existence by turning a mansion into a shelter for vagrants. Hugely controversial on release, this brilliant satire remains shocking today, and was voted the best Spanish film of all time by Spanish critics in 2016.

***

Banned in Spain and denounced by the Vatican, Luis Buñuel’s irreverent vision of life as a beggar’s banquet is regarded by many as his masterpiece. In it, novice nun Viridiana does her utmost to maintain her Catholic principles, but her lecherous uncle and a motley assemblage of paupers force her to confront the limits of her idealism. Winner of the Palme d’or at the 1961 Cannes Film Festival, Viridiana is as audacious today as ever...

***

After years in Mexican exile, Buñuel returned to his native Spain to make this dark account of corruption, which was immediately banned. A young nun, full of charity, kindness, and idealistic illusions about humanity, visits her uncle and tries to help some local peasants and beggars. But her altruism is greeted with ridicule and cruelty. Pinal gives a superb performance in the title role, and Buñuel's clear-eyed wit is relentless in its depiction of human selfishness, ingratitude, and cynicism. The final beggars' orgy - a black parody of the Last Supper, performed to the ethereal strains of Handel's Messiah - is one of the director's most memorably disturbing, funny, and brutal scenes. A masterpiece.

Excerpt from the TimeOut Film Guide review located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: August 28th, 1961

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Review: Radiance - Region FREE - Blu-ray

Box Cover

Only available, presently, in Radiance's Blu-ray package of Nothing is Sacred: Three Heresies from Luis Buñuel with Viridiana (1961), The Exterminating Angel (1962) and Simon of the Desert (1965)

  

Bonus Captures:

Distribution Radiance - Region FREE - Blu-ray
Runtime

1:30:57.452

Video

1.66:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 48,879,735,782 bytes

Feature: 26,316,746,112 bytes

Video Bitrate: 34.86 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.

Bitrate Blu-ray:

Audio

LPCM Audio Spanish 1536 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1536 kbps / 16-bit
Commentary:

Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps / DN -30dB

Subtitles English, None
Features Release Information:
Studio:
Radiance

 

1.66:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 48,879,735,782 bytes

Feature: 26,316,746,112 bytes

Video Bitrate: 34.86 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

Edition Details:

• Audio commentary on Viridiana by critic Michael Brooke (2024)
• Introduction to The Life and Times of Don Luis Buñuel by Anthony Wall (9:50)
• The Life and Times of Don Luis Buñuel - A BBC Arena documentary on Buñuel featuring contributions from Buñuel and collaborators including Catherine Deneuve, presented on Blu-ray for the first time (1983, 1:41:17)
• Newly filmed appreciation for Viridiana by Lulu Wang (10:56)
• An interview with Buñuel from 1964 recorded for French TV’s Cinéastes de notre temps (1964, 47:46)
• Gallery (16 images)


Blu-ray Release Date: December 16th, 2024

Transparent Blu-ray Case

Chapters 10

 

Nothing is Sacred: Three Heresies from Luis Buñuel Package

 

 

Comments:

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Radiance Blu-ray (March 2025): Radiance have transferred Luis Buñuel's Viridiana to Blu-ray. It is part of their Nothing is Sacred: Three Heresies from Luis Buñuel with Viridiana (1961), The Exterminating Angel (1962) and Simon of the Desert (1965) released in December 2024 that we never got around to covering as the year-end poll was dominating most of my time. It is still available in the 3-disc set but I suspect it will be coming out in a standard Blu-ray edition and individually at some point. I will try to get to the other two films as time permits. We reviewed the Criterion DVD back in 2006, HERE. It had more damage than we have become accustomed to and I saw some infrequent and uncharacteristic brightness boosting. This 1080P is darker which suits the film experience and, if I recall correctly, has the same softness at the 10-minute mark - for all of 30-seconds (see HERE) that was on the Criterion. Certainly the Blu-ray is a well-overdue upgrade that fans will appreciate. .

NOTE: We have added 52 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Radiance use a linear PCM dual-mono track (16-bit) in the original Spanish language. Viridiana has few effects. The score was by Gustavo Pittaluga (The Young and the Damned) is a subtle yet pivotal part of Buñuel’s masterpiece. It perceptively it shapes the film’s unsettling vibe mirroring Buñuel’s restraint, avoiding melodrama in a film that’s already dripping with irony. Pittaluga curated pieces like Mozart’s Requiem Mass in D Minor and Handel’s Messiah, weaving them into the film’s fabric to amplify its satire and tension. It sounds authentically flat and flawless via the uncompressed. Radiance offer optional English subtitles on their Region FREE Blu-ray.

The Radiance Blu-ray offers a new (2024) commentary by Michael Brooke. Brooke’s commentary is a deep dive - detailed, scholarly, and packed with context. He explores Buñuel’s surrealist roots, the film’s production under Franco’s regime, and its Palme d’Or win at Cannes. He’s got a knack for connecting Viridiana to Buñuel’s broader career, like his Mexican exile films or early works with Salvador Dalí, without losing sight of the movie’s specifics - like the infamous Last Supper scene with the beggars. His tone is dry but engaging, leaning on historical anecdotes (e.g., Buñuel’s sly defiance of censorship) and thematic analysis (the clash of idealism and human nature). As usual, 'excellent', Michael. Included is Anthony Wall's 1983 film, The Life and Times of Don Luis Buñuel, shot in Spain in 1961, which paints Buñuel as both artist and exile. The documentary also covers his late-career French renaissance: Belle de Jour (1967), with Catherine Deneuve as a housewife-turned-prostitute, and The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972), Buñuel's dreamlike satire that nabbed an Oscar. It doesn’t shy away from his contradictions - Catholic upbringing clashing with atheism, or his love of martinis and pranks (he once fired a prop gun at friends for laughs). Critics like it for its archival depth - rare stills, early film snippets - but some find it a tad dry, lacking the flair of Buñuel’s own work. It also touches on that film’s scandal - it won the Palme d’Or but got banned there for its Last Supper parody. This excellent, feature-length, documentary frames it as Buñuel thumbing his nose at Franco’s censorship, a recurring theme of defiance. It offers the option of a new (2024) ten-minute introduction to The Life and Times of Don Luis Buñuel by Wall - nice addition. Also included is a newly filmed 11-minute appreciation for Viridiana by Chinese-born American filmmaker Lulu Wang (The Farewell) and it's great to hear her personal appraisal of Viridiana, analyzing its themes and its influence on and relevance to filmmakers in the modern era. We also get a 3/4 hour interview with Buñuel from 1964 recorded for French TV’s Cinéastes de notre temps - also on the Criterion DVD. It was shot in n his Buñuel's hometown of Calanda, Aragon, in Spain. Lastly is a gallery with 16 high quality stills. The limited edition 3-film Blu-ray package includes an 80-page book featuring new writing by Glenn Kenny, Justine Smith, Lindsay Hallam and David Hering, as well as archive material.  

Luis Buñuel's Viridiana is a dark, satirical gem, the director's first film shot in Spain since his exile after the Spanish Civil War. It stars Mexican actress Silvia Pinal - who is in all three films in Radiance's Blu-ray set (also Sam Fuller's Shark!) - as titular 'Viridiana', a novice nun on the brink of taking her vows, who visits her wealthy, reclusive uncle, Don Jaime (Buñuel regular Fernando Rey - in a career spanning over 150 films,) at his decaying estate. Don Jaime’s a creep - he’s obsessed with Viridiana, partly because she resembles his dead wife. He drugs her, nearly assaults her, and later hangs himself with a jump rope after she rejects him. Guilt-ridden, Viridiana inherits the estate alongside her cousin Jorge (Francisco Rabal - Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!, Sorcerer) and ditches the convent to turn the place into a refuge for local beggars. Things spiral when the beggars - crude, ungrateful, and chaotic - trash the house in a drunken orgy, complete with a mock 'Last Supper' set to Handel’s "Hallelujah Chorus." Viridiana confronts controversial themes of religion / blasphemy / depravity / class / power etc. It's a masterpiece and I am thrilled with Radiance Blu-ray - solid a/v upgrade - expert commentary - feature-length documentary - interview - appreciation and more. Most serious Buñuel fans must already own it - regardless it has our highest recommendation.

Gary Tooze

 


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Box Cover

Only available, presently, in Radiance's Blu-ray package of Nothing is Sacred: Three Heresies from Luis Buñuel with Viridiana (1961), The Exterminating Angel (1962) and Simon of the Desert (1965)

  

Bonus Captures:

Distribution Radiance - Region FREE - Blu-ray


 


 

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