Criterion Collection (series)

Diary of a Chambermaid

DVD Features:

Audio:

• Mono - French

Additional Release Material:

• Production Interview - 1. Jean-Claude Carriere
• Trailers - 1. Original Theatrical

Text/Photo Galleries:

• Additional Text - 1. Interview with Bunuel

Product Description:

Luis Bunuel became the second filmmaker, after Jean Renoir, to adapt Octave Mirbeau's novel about a social-climbing chambermaid, and the upper-class home in which she works. However, Bunuel has updated the book by a quarter-century and veers from its words in order to stay true to its spirit. The story follows Celestine, who arrives at the Rabour-Monteil residence, where she encounters the family patriarch, a foot fetishist who cannot resist trying to seduce every maid; his resistant wife (who finds his "constant" demands for sex--twice a week--overwhelming); and, most important, Joseph, a fascistic and murderous man-servant who believes in maintaining France for the French... and who wants Celestine for his bride. A powerful and politically prescient film, that speaks to the present day as much as of the time in which it was made.

Plot Synopsis:

Luis Bunuel became the second filmmaker, after Jean Renoir, to adapt Octave Mirbeau's novel about a social-climbing chambermaid, and the upper-class home in which she works. However, Bunuel has updated the book by a quarter-century and veers from its words in order to stay true to its spirit...
The story follows Celestine, who arrives at the Rabour-Monteil residence, where she encounters the family patriarch, a foot fetishist who cannot resist trying to seduce every maid; his resistant wife (who finds his "constant" demands for sex -- twice a week -- overwhelming); and, most important, Joseph, a fascistic and murderous man-servant who believes in maintaining France for the French... and who wants Celestine for his bride.
A powerful and politically prescient film, that speaks to the present day as much as of the time in which it was made.

Plot Keywords:

Adventure | Drama | Essential Cinema | Family Interaction | Recommended | Suspense | Theatrical Release

Cast and Crew: