"Le journal d'une femme de chambre" is a film from Luis Bunuel's late (and most productive) period. In this period most of his films are about the hypocrisy of the upper middle class / bourgeoisie. "Le journal d'une femme de chambre" is no exception.
In different films this hypocrisy takes the form of a sexual perversion. In "Le journal d'une femme de chambre" there is fetishism, in "Viridiana" (1961) there is necrophilia and in "Belle de joure" a woman prostitutes herself out of boredom.
Special for "Le journal d"une femme de chambre" is that the working class is also not very likeable. There is a handyman with fascist ideas and main character Celestine (Jeanne Moreau) wants above all to rise to the same class of her employer.
For a Bunuel movie "Le journal d'une femme de chambre" has a remarkable amount of plot. According to Bunuel standards this is an abnormally normal film.
The plot is about a murder mystery in a mansion in which masters and servers have their own seperated worlds. In this respect the film resembles "Gosford Park" (2001, Robert Altman).
In both "Gosford Park" and "Le journal d'une femme de chambre" the murder case isn't solved at the end. In "Le journal d'une femme de chambre" I think this is indicative of the personality of the main character. She commits her female charms rather for enhancing her social status then for finding the murderer of her friend.
In different films this hypocrisy takes the form of a sexual perversion. In "Le journal d'une femme de chambre" there is fetishism, in "Viridiana" (1961) there is necrophilia and in "Belle de joure" a woman prostitutes herself out of boredom.
Special for "Le journal d"une femme de chambre" is that the working class is also not very likeable. There is a handyman with fascist ideas and main character Celestine (Jeanne Moreau) wants above all to rise to the same class of her employer.
For a Bunuel movie "Le journal d'une femme de chambre" has a remarkable amount of plot. According to Bunuel standards this is an abnormally normal film.
The plot is about a murder mystery in a mansion in which masters and servers have their own seperated worlds. In this respect the film resembles "Gosford Park" (2001, Robert Altman).
In both "Gosford Park" and "Le journal d'une femme de chambre" the murder case isn't solved at the end. In "Le journal d'une femme de chambre" I think this is indicative of the personality of the main character. She commits her female charms rather for enhancing her social status then for finding the murderer of her friend.