A Thousand Suns Presents: A Chambermaid's Diary

France, 1930s. Parisian chambermaid Célestine (Jeanne Moreau) travels to a manor house in scenic surroundings to work. Here she moves into a house populated by eccentric employees and employers whose fetishes, desires and power games play out behind closed doors. When a young girl is raped and murdered, Célestine decides to find the culprit.

All the while, the fascism and radicalisation of the 1930s are simmering in the background: anti-Semitism, anti-communism and notions of the army and the church as a safeguard against the decay of society are slowly emerging.

The film's style is strikingly sober. Buñuel avoids boisterous style grabs, and the film is devoid of underpinning music. As Carrière has since described it, Buñuel didn't have much left for gripes, telling the audience in advance how a scene should be experienced. The film's crystal-clear simplicity, however, does not mean it is visually spartan. Outside, trees and foliage stand close in the forest, and inside the manor abounds with busts, mirrors, vases and lamps—objects that Buñuel makes part of the house's social hierarchy. From the equipment-heavy kitchen and the simple, wallpaper-covered attic room to the baroque living rooms, the camera detects the spaces without highlighting or explaining.

Director: Luis Buñuel
Starring: Jeanne Moreau, Georges Géret, Daniel Ivernel, Michel Piccoli
Country/year: France, 1964
Running time: 98 min.
Formato: 35mm
Language: Swedish subtitles
Original title: Le journal d'une femme de chambre

Part of the series: A Thousand Suns
Thousand suns is a film screening series in Copenhagen that aims to give an insight into the current state of film art and outline a direction for its future.