Diary of a Chambermaid (1964 film)
| Diary of a Chambermaid | |
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Theatrical poster
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| Directed by | Luis Buñuel |
| Produced by | Michel Safra Serge Silberman |
| Written by | Luis Buñuel Jean-Claude Carrière |
| Starring |
Jeanne Moreau Michel Piccoli Georges Géret Françoise Lugagne Daniel Ivernel Jean Ozenne |
| Cinematography | Roger Fellous |
| Edited by | Louisette Hautecoeur |
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Release date
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Running time
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97 minutes 85 minutes (alternative French version) |
| Country | France Italy |
| Language | French |
Diary of a Chambermaid (French: Le journal d'une femme de chambre, Italian: Il diario di una cameriera) is a 1964 French-Italian drama film. It is one of several French films made by Spanish-born filmmaker Luis Buñuel. Though highly satirical and reflective of his typical anti-bourgeoisie sentiments, it is one of Buñuel's more realistic films, generally avoiding the outlandish surrealist imagery and far-fetched plot twists found in many of his other works. It stars Jeanne Moreau as a chambermaid who uses her feminine charms to control and advance her situation, in a social setting of corruption, violence, sexual obsession and perversion.
This was the first screenwriting collaboration between Buñuel and Jean-Claude Carrière, which would later produce his well known Belle de Jour (1967), The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972) and That Obscure Object of Desire (1977). The two extensively reworked the 1900 novel of the same name by Octave Mirbeau, that had been given a more literal treatment in its second film adaptation, made in Hollywood in 1946, directed by Jean Renoir. The novel has been adapted for the screen a third time in Benoît Jacquot's 2015 version.
A stylish, attractive young woman, Célestine (Jeanne Moreau), arrives from Paris to become chambermaid for an odd family at their country chateau. The period is mid-1930s, and the populace is astir with extremist politics, right and left. The Monteil's household consists of a childless couple, the frigid wife's elderly, genteel father, and several servants, including Joseph the groom (Georges Géret) who's a rightist, nationalist, anti-Semitic, violent man. The wife (Françoise Lugagne) runs a rigidly tidy house; she would like to please her virile husband physically, but cannot, due to pelvic "pain." M. Monteil (Michel Piccoli) amuses himself by hunting small game and pursuing all the females within range – the previous chambermaid seems to have left pregnant and had to be "bought off."
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