Viridiana Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		5.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		5.0
Overall		5.0

Viridiana Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 30, 2024

Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of the Nothing is Sacred: Three Heresies by Luis Buñuel set from Radiance Films.

The filmography of Luis Buñuel is liberally sprinkled with enough classics that it might be a challenging assignment to aggregate a "greatest hits" collection, but in terms of Buñuel's early to mid sixties output, Radiance is offering fans two of Buñuel's most celebrated features, with a third somewhat shorter offering that is probably not quite as well known, but which should provide considerable interest along with the two better known works. Buñuel's anarchic spirit is alive and well in all three films, and it's perhaps salient to note that the influence of the director in general and at least one of these films in particular continues to be felt throughout our own more or less current cultural zeitgeist, as evidenced by the fact that (as weird as it admittedly sounds) the late Stephen Sondheim kinda sorta adapted both The Exterminating Angel and the at least somewhat linked The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie for his final (arguably incomplete) musical Here We Are. On the other end of the zeitgeist spectrum, though, is the kind of amazing fact that as of the writing of this review Viridiana has yet to have a Region A Blu-ray release (the check discs sent to me for purposes of the reviews of the films in this set were all region free).

Along with his undeniably provocative screenplays, Buñuel also has offered audiences some indelible images, including everything from a certain razor blade slicing through an eyeball to an elaborate banquet where all the participants are seated on toilets. Viridiana offers a deconstruction of Leonardo da Vinci's famous depiction of the Last Supper with a bunch of ne'er-do-wells and vagrants which must certainly be included in any list of memorable vignettes in Buñuel's oeuvre. The fact that this deliberately shocking scene unfolds within the context of a would be nun who is led to believe she's been deflowered only increases the almost audacious way that Buñuel chooses to address one of the formative foundational elements of his native Spanish culture, namely Catholicism. It's therefore not overly surprising that while the film was an instant sensation and took home the Palme d'Or that year at Cannes, it was almost just as instantly banned by Franco's fascist government for its perceived (and, let's be honest, undeniable) blasphemous content.

The story is bracingly nuanced and, for Buñuel at least, rather straightforward and traditional in its narrative, depicting novitiate Viridiana (Silvia Pinal) visiting an estranged uncle, Don Jaime (Fernando Rey), before taking her vows. Jaime confides in Viridiana that she bears an uncanny resemblance to his late wife, and suffice it to say he engages in some provocative subterfuge which ends up convincing Viridiana she can't possibly become a nun. Soon enough another unexpected turn of events suddenly has Viridiana sharing Jaime's estate with Jaime's illegitimate son Jorge (Francisco Rabal), where Viridiana attempts to make the best of a bad situation by offering refuge to various downtrodden souls. This is merely a surface summary of a film that offers scabrous investigations of a number of related subtextual issues, including of course the role of the Catholic church in society itself, but also a perhaps surprising perspective that may suggest Mankind as a whole is frankly irredeemable, despite any honorable efforts to the contrary.

Viridiana Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Viridiana is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Radiance Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.67:1. While Radiance provided check discs for purposes of this review, I was able to secure a retail version and so can reproduce verbiage from Radiance's insert booklet about the transfer (Radiance lumps all three films together on its page devoted to the transfers):

Viridiana and Simon of the Desert were scanned in 4K from the original camera negatives and restored in 4K by Mercury Films in Madrid, Spain. Additional colour correction was applied to Viridiana by Radiance Films in 2024.

The Exterminating Angel was scanned in 4K from the original camera negative by Mercury Films in Madrid, Spain. The film was restored by Radiance Films at Heavenly Movie Corp in 2024. Thousands of instances of dirt, dust, stains and tears were removed and dozens of shots stabilised to attentuate mechanical jitter. The film was graded by Stephen C. Horne.

All three films are presented with their original uncompressed PCM mono soundtracks.

This is a gorgeous looking transfer with only a couple of very minor passing issues momentarily detracting from an otherwise nicely detailed and commendably organic appearance. Contrast is generally great, with some impressively deep blacks and nicely modulated gray scale. Fine detail on fabrics of costumes and some aspects of the sets and props also is typically excellent. There are just a few very minor sudden downgrades in imagery where contrast can falter slightly and image clarity lessens. Damage and age related wear and tear are negligible. There is still a bit of wobble during the opening optically printed credits that the above referenced image stabilisation hasn't completely ameliorated.

Viridiana Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Viridiana features LPCM 2.0 Mono audio. It actually takes a moment or two for the Hallelujah Chorus to kick in under the credits, and listeners will be able to hear a bit of slight hiss and crackle in the background before the music starts. As with the wobbliness of the credits, the music itself has a bit of quasi-tape flutter for just a moment, but then settles down. Once the film starts, that same background hiss and crackle can be heard during some of the quieter moments, but dialogue, scoring and sound effects are all presented without any major issues. Optional English subtitles are available.

Viridiana Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• The Life and Times of Don Luis Buñuel (HD; 1:41:17) is a great 1983 BBC piece with snippets from Bunuel's autobiography read by Paul Scofield.


• Introduction to The Life and Times of Don Luis Buñuel by Director Anthony Hall (HD; 9:50) is accessible under the main listing for the above documentary and is authored to proceed directly on to the documentary.


• Audio Commentary by Michael Brooke


• Lulu Wang (HD; 10:56) is an appreciation of the film by director Wang.


• Cinéastes de Notre Temps (HD; 47:46) is an archival documentary from 1964 featuring Buñuel in his hometown of Calanda. Subtitled in English.


• Gallery (HD)

Viridiana Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Viridiana continues to shock and provoke to this day, a (no religious pun intended) testament to its enduring power and impact. Technical merits are generally solid and the supplements engaging. Highly recommended.