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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. |
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Theatrical Release: August 28th, 1961
Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews
Review:
Radiance - Region FREE - Blu-rayBox Cover |
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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 |
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Video |
1.66 :1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-rayDisc Size: 48,879,735,782 bytesFeature: 26,316,746,112 bytesVideo Bitrate: 34.86 MbpsCodec: MPEG-4 AVC Video |
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NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes. |
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Bitrate Blu-ray: |
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Audio |
LPCM Audio Spanish
1536 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1536 kbps / 16-bit Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps / DN -30dB |
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Subtitles | English, None | |
Features |
Release Information: Studio: Radiance
1.66 :1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-rayDisc Size: 48,879,735,782 bytesFeature: 26,316,746,112 bytesVideo Bitrate: 34.86 MbpsCodec: 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)
Transparent Blu-ray Case Chapters 10 |
Nothing is Sacred: Three Heresies from Luis Buñuel Package
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Comments: |
NOTE:
The below
Blu-ray
captures were taken directly from the
Blu-ray
disc.
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
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
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Menus / Extras
Radiance - Region FREE - Blu-ray
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CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
1) Criterion - Region 1 - NTSC TOP2) Radiance - Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM |
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1) Criterion - Region 1 - NTSC TOP2) Radiance - Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM |
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1) Criterion - Region 1 - NTSC TOP2) Radiance - Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM |
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More full resolution (1920 X 1080) Blu-ray Captures for DVDBeaver Patreon Supporters HERE
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Box Cover |
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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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