Synopsis
This wicked adaptation of the Octave Mirbeau novel is classic Luis Buñuel. Jeanne Moreau is Celestine, a beautiful Parisian domestic who, upon arrival at her new job at an estate in provincial 1930s France, entrenches herself in sexual hypocrisy and scandal with her philandering employer (Buñuel regular Michel Piccoli). Filmed in luxurious black-and-white Franscope, Diary of a Chambermaid is a raw-edged tangle of fetishism and murder—and a scathing look at the burgeoning French fascism of the era.
Cast
| Celestine | Jeanne Moreau |
| Monsieur Monteil | Michel Piccoli |
| Joseph | Georges Géret |
| Captaine Mauger | Daniel Ivernel |
| Madame Monteil | Françoise Lugagne |
| Monsieur Rabour | Jean Ozenne |
| Marianne | Muni |
| The priest | Jean-Claude Carrière |
Credits
| Director | Luis Buñuel |
| Producer | Serge Silberman and Michael Safra |
| Screenplay | Luis Buñuel and Jean-Claude Carrière |
| From the novel by | Octave Mirbeau |
| Cinematography | Roger Fellous |
| Cameraman | Adolphe Charlet |
| Decors and costumes | Georges Wakhevitch |
| Sound | Antoine Petitjean |
| Editing | Louisette Hautecoeur |
| Assistant director | Pierre Lary and Jean-Luis Buñuel |
| Production manager | Henri Baum |
Disc Features
- Spectacular new widescreen transfer, with digitally restored image and sound and enhanced for 16×9 televisions
- Video interview with screenwriter and longtime Buñuel collaborator Jean-Claude Carrière
- Transcript of a late 1970s interview with director Luis Bunuel
- Original theatrical trailer, narrated by Jeanne Moreau
- New and improved English subtitle translation
- Optimal image quality: RSDL dual-layer edition
From the Current
Diary of a Chambermaid
by Jun 4, 2001Openly, serenely delighted with how our own dreams can appall us, and how close movies are to that appalling dreaminess, Luis Buñuel may have been the greatest filmmaker of the first century. Certainly among the ten or twelve unassailable masters of the medium, he is the wittiest, the least . . .
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