Le journal d'une femme de chambre (1964)

Director:

Luis Buñuel

Writers:

Luis Buñuel (writer)
Jean-Claude Carrière (writer)

Release Date:

9 March 1965 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Plot:

Celestine, the chambermaid has new job on the country. The Monteils, who she works for are a group of strange people...

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Fascist | Rape | Chambermaid | Sadism

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Jeanne Moreau	...	Céléstine
Georges Géret	...	Joseph
Daniel Ivernel	...	Captain Mauger
Françoise Lugagne	...	Madame Monteil
Muni	...	Marianne
Jean Ozenne	...	Monsieur Rabour
Michel Piccoli	...	Monsieur Monteil
Joëlle Bernard
Françoise Bertin
Aline Bertrand
Pierre Collet
Michel Dacquid
Madeleine Damien
Marc Eyraud	...	Le secrétaire du commissaire
Jean Franval

Also Known As:

Diary of a Chambermaid (USA)
Il diario di una cameriera (Italy)
The Diary of a Chambermaid (UK)
El diario de una camarera (Mexico) (Spain) (Uruguay) [es]
Diario de una camarera (Argentina) (Spain) [es]
Tagebuch einer Kammerzofe (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
Deník komorné (Czechoslovakia: Czech title) [cs]
Denník komornej (Czechoslovakia: Slovak title) [sk]
Diário de uma Camareira (Brazil) [pt]
Diario de uma Criada de Quarto (Portugal) [pt]
Dziennik panny sluzacej (Poland) [pl]
Egy szobalány naplója (Hungary) [hu]
En kammarjungfrus dagbok (Sweden) [sv]
En kammerpiges dagbog (Denmark) [da]
En kammerpikes dagbok (Norway) [no]
Het dagboek van een kamermeisje (Belgium: Flemish title) [un]
Jurnalul unei cameriste (Romania) [ro]
Kamarineidon päiväkirja (Finland) [fi]
To imerologio mias kamarieras (Greece) [el]

Runtime:

101 min | France:97 min | Brazil:94 min | Argentina:97 min

Country:

France | Italy

Language:

French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Finland:K-16 | Ireland:12 (DVD rating) | UK:12 (video rating) (2001) | UK:15 (video rating) (1993) | UK:AA (original rating) (1981) | West Germany:12 (w)

Filming Locations:

Dieppe, Seine-Maritime, France

Company:

Ciné-Alliance

Trivia:

The demonstrating fascists shout "Vive Chiappe", a homage to the chief of the Parisian police who prohibited showing director Luis Buñuel's earlier film L'âge d'or (1930) after fascists destroyed the cinema where it was being shown.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Chappaqua (1966)

Fight of Classes, Hypocrisy, Fascism, Clerical and Murder

In the 30's, the witty, literate and quite sophisticated chambermaid Céléstine (Jeanne Moreau) comes from Paris to work for the dysfunctional Monteil family in the country, more specifically for the fetishist on shoes and maniac for cleaning Monsieur Rabour (Jean Ozenne). His daughter and mistress of the house Madame Monteil (Françoise Lugagne) is a frigid and arrogant woman, and her husband, Monsieur Monteil (Michel Piccoli), is a hunter and also a wolf with their maids. Their fascist and rude worker Joseph (Georges Géret) feels a sexual attraction for Céléstine, but she repels him. Their neighbor, Captain Mauger (Daniel Ivernel), has a problem with the Monteils and dumps his garbage in their yard, but Céléstine talks to him and is motive of gossips. When Monsieur Rabour unexpectedly dies, Céléstine quits her job but while in the train station, she finds that the girl Claire was found raped and murdered by the police. Céléstine returns to her job convinced that Joseph killed the little girl and trying to find evidences against him.

"Le Journal d'une Femme de Chambre" is a delightful movie of undefined genre – drama, black comedy, adventure? – where Luis Buñuel again exposes fight of classes, hypocrisy of both the bourgeois and the working class, a historical moment in France with the fascism growing, the ridiculous role of the clerical and an unsolved murder case. The story is centered in Céléstine, but the motives why a woman with her profile accepts a job in a rural area is never clear. The identity of the rapist and killer of Claire is also not disclosed, there is only a strong insinuation that Joseph killed the girl. The story is very ironic, like for example when Monsieur Monteil is informed that Céléstine and Joseph will marry and requires the sexual favors from Marianne; or the weird fetishism of Monsieur Rabour; or the priest asking for a new roof for the church to Madame Monteil; or the conclusion with Captain Mauger changing his will and serving the mistress and smart Céléstine on their bed. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "O Diário de uma Camareira" ("The Diary of a Chambermaid")