DVD Review: Diary of a Chambermaid (B+)

Diary of a Chambermaid (1964)
Directed by Luis Buñuel
Starring Jeanne Moreau,Georges Géret, Daniel Ivernel and Françoise Lugagne
MPAA: UR
Grade: B+

Review by Scott Standish

One of Luis Bunuel's lesser known films, Diary of a Chambermaid is among his finest. Remarkably restrained and dryly comic, Diary of a Chambermaid is a fantastic dark comedy with a not so subtle commentary on social climbing.

Celestine is a chambermaid for the Monteils, a rich family in the country. The family is bizarre: the wife is a mean old gal and the husband tries to sleep with any woman he can. The grandfather in the house is actually the strangest, he has a shoe fetish and he enlists Celestine to try on high heeled shoes and walk about the room.

Celestine wisely forms an alliance with the family's crazy neighbors and begins working every angle. The neighbors gleefully toss their trash over the fence and onto the Monteils' lawn. Celestine refuses to take sides in the bizarre conflict and she keeps her eyes and ears open. When a little child is murdered, she uses these alliances to try and bring the killer to justice.

Full of wit and intelligent dialogue, Diary of a Chambermaid is a fantastic film that is beautifully presented here by Criterion. A classic film in almost every sense, this is yet another great motion picture from surrealist director Luis Bunuel.

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