Perhaps the most controversial shot in Luis Buñuel’s “Viridiana”- The composition of the shot is an imitation of Da Vinci’s The Last Supper, only it was re-enacted by homeless beggars. The Christ like figure in the middle was depicted by a street beggar who is blind. The shot implies that blindness is at the core centre of religion. The plot follows Viridiana’s awakening to reality from the illusion of faith.
When surrealist master, Luis Buñuel, screened his social satire, “Viridiana”, at the Cannes Film Festival, it shook the world. The film won the Palme d’Or, got banned in its home country, and was completely denounced by the Vatican. The Catholic Church described the film as blasphemous and excommunicated everyone who worked on it. Soon after, the Franco government ordered the immediate destruction of every copy in existence. Thankfully, not every single copy was destroyed, and “Viridiana” is just as shocking today as it was back then.
A film that triggered such a strong reaction from the powers that be must be doing something right. The first time I watched it, it blew my mind and confirmed my belief that Buñuel is the bravest most fearless film director to ever walk this planet. The film revolves around a nun, who before taking her holy vows, gets sent to visit her perverted widowed uncle. There, she does everything as the holy book taught her, yet somehow all of her choices have extremely bad repercussions; acts of goodness result in the worst human behavior imaginable. Buñuel’s destruction of religious morality is fascinating. The film is filled with taboo imagery and disturbing scenarios designed to make you question the role of organized religion in a world that doesn’t want to be saved by it.
The Cinephile Fix 