Tagebuch einer Kammerzofe (1964)

Tagebuch einer Kammerzofe: Directed by Luis Buñuel. With Jeanne Moreau, Georges Géret, Daniel Ivernel, Françoise Lugagne. A sophisticated and self-assured woman from Paris joins a middle-class rural estate as a maid and causes quite a stir among the variously uptight, perverse and violent inhabitants.

“Bunuelu0026#39;s u0026#39;Diary Of A Chambermaidu0026#39; was released in between two of his surreal masterpieces u0026#39;The Exterminating Angelu0026#39; and u0026#39;Simon Of The Desertu0026#39;. It is, on the surface at least, a lot more conventional as either of those, maybe thatu0026#39;s why it doesnu0026#39;t get as much attention as it deserves. I donu0026#39;t know why it is rarely mentioned when people discuss the very best of Bunuel, but for me itu0026#39;s almost as great as u0026#39;Viridianau0026#39; and u0026#39;Belle De Jouru0026#39;. The story was previously filmed by Renoir in the 1940s, but I havenu0026#39;t seen that version, so I canu0026#39;t say how different Bunuelu0026#39;s approach to the material is. As Bunuel claimed not to have seen it either I donu0026#39;t feel so bad. Jean Moreau, the beautiful star of Truffautu0026#39;s u0026#39;Jules And Jimu0026#39; and countless other Euro art film favourites, gives a brilliant performance as the enigmatic Celestine, maid to The Monteils, a very odd family living in pre-War France. Bunuel includes some of his usual comments about sexual deviance, and Franceu0026#39;s future under the Nazi occupation haunts the whole film, but what is most interesting to me about the picture is its subtlety and ambiguity. Like u0026#39;Belle De Jouru0026#39; I think each repeated viewing will reveal more, and opinions on its meaning will depend on the individual viewer. Personally Iu0026#39;m still exploring Bunuelu0026#39;s extraordinary body of work. It is exciting doing so. Iu0026#39;ve probably only seen a third of his output so far, but Iu0026#39;ve yet to see a movie made by him that is less than fascinating. u0026#39;Diary Of A Chambermaidu0026#39; just might be his most underrated film. I highly recommend it.”