FRANCE IN THE THIRTIES

February 2, 2007 at 12:01 am | Posted in Art, Globalization, History, Literary | Leave a comment

French Politics in the Thirties

Luis Buñuel’s

Diary of a Chambermaid – 1965

Considered surrealist Luis Buñuel’s most linear film, Diary of a Chambermaid is an excellent introduction to this director’s dark satirical world of social criticism. Loosely based on Mirbeau’s Journal D’Une Femme de Chambre, Buñuel uses the beautiful French countryside as a backdrop to ruthlessly display his favorite subjects: Catholicism, the bourgeoisie, nationalism, and moral decay.What hypocrites people are, Bunuel seems to be saying in this amusing but rather sour look at French petit bourgeoise during the 1930s. Celestine (Jeanne Moreau) has come to work at the country estate of the Monteils.
She’s from Paris, shrewd and attractive, and a magnet for every man she meets. And what a collection there is. The woman of the house is frigid and finds more comfort in possessions and neatness than in her husband. Her husband, denied the pleasures of the bed, is constantly seeking relief from almost every female servant he can force himself on. His father in law, who lives with them, is an aging fetishist. Joseph, the gamekeeper, is a fascist. Their neighbor, Captain Mauger, is in a continuing state of frustrated rage against the Monteils. Celestine is cool and somewhat amused by it all, but ultimately decides to return to Paris. Then a young girl she met is raped and murdered in the woods. Celestine is sure she knows who the killer is and decides to stay. If the police can’t find the evidence to capture him, she’ll provide it one way or another. Bunuel puts a jaundiced eye on everyone. The captain may may be convinced of the honor of the army, but he lies about his neighbor. The priest and confessor of the lady of the manor is called upon to give her marital advice, which he does by saying that twice a week is too much and she mustn’t enjoy it. The father-in-law is over-civilized but with a penchant for soiled ladies’ boots. Joseph raves on about order, faith and country, but believes a goose tastes better if it has been tortured before being killed.

And there is Celestine herself. She knows her power over these men but plays with them in a rather abstracted manner. She wants the person she believes killed the girl to be caught, and is prepared to bed him to do so. She ultimately marries the captain, who brings money and a certain position to her, but it hardly is a marriage of love or even affection. When the captain tells her he has changed his will, Celestine looks a little too thoughtful.

The first half of the movie is a sardonic and amusing look at manners, centered around Celestine. The second half of the movie is darker and not so amusing.

Comment: Herriot, Chiappe, “L’Action Francaise” introduced in movie. Writer Huysmans also mentioned.