Journal d'une femme de chambre, Le (1964)

Director:

Luis Buñuel

Writers:

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

Release Date:

9 March 1965 (USA)

Genre:

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:

Geese | Sexual | Handyman | Normandy France | Frame Up

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:

Diario di una cameriera, Il (Italy)
Diary of a Chambermaid (USA)
The Diary of a Chambermaid (UK)
Diario de una camarera, El (Mexico) (Spain) (Uruguay) [es]
Diario de una camarera (Argentina) (Spain) [es]
Tagebuch einer Kammerzofe (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
Dagboek van een kamermeisje, Het (Belgium: Flemish title) [un]
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]
Imerologio mias kamarieras, To (Greece) [el]
Jurnalul unei cameriste (Romania) [ro]
Kamarineidon päiväkirja (Finland) [fi]
Kammarjungfrus dagbok, En (Sweden) [sv]
Kammerpiges dagbog, En (Denmark) [da]
Kammerpikes dagbok, En (Norway) [no]
Szobalány naplója, Egy (Hungary) [hu]

Runtime:

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

This is Luis Buñuel's only film in the anamorphic widescreen format.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Chappaqua (1966)

Could Jeanne Moreau be l'Ange Exterminateur?

L'ange exterminateur",Bunuel's precedent work had puzzled the audience.The director himself said:"the best explanation for this movie is that there is none."

"Le journal d'une femme de chambre" is a return to a more accessible style.It depicts a rotten microcosm where Jeanne Moreau might come as an ange exterminateur.Bunuel's favorite subjects are all here:the discreet charm of the bourgeoisie,here represented by a ludicrous threesome : a husband (Piccoli) whose only pastime is sex,his holier-than-thou wife who tells the priest her husband is so lecherous he wants to make "it" twice a...week!,and the old father,fetishist to the core who enjoys the shiny boots of leather.

In parallel,Bunuel shows a sinister gamekeeper(probably Georges Géret's best part),a little girl's assassin.This character , a right wing diehard, is not a man from a distant past,he's still going on in today's France where some people keep on screaming " death to the scum" In his room full of"long live the army" posters,he still thinks he's got God on his side as he wants to relieve the world of "inferior " races such as the Jews.This character is one of the most obnoxious in the whole Bunuel canon.

Bunuel's sexual symbols are always here :snails on the raped girl's thighs ;the old man,dead in his bed,clutching his dear boots.The two scenes pack a real wallop for they are placed side by side.

Jeanne Moreau does not look like a chamber maid (a character tells her so).She 's not like the mighty ones and the poor ones around her,her almost deadpan attitude -and the way she reads the old man's book- speaks volumes .And even if the sinners escape unharmed, the last picture heralds the coming of the exterminating angel.