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God works in mysterious ways in Luis Buñuel's rousing hacienda mélo. The hellion (Rosita Quintana) is named for chaste beauty and modeled on Hollywood hussies (Linda Darnell in Forever Amber, say), first seen dragged kicking and screaming into a reformatory cell crawling with rats and bats and spiders. She notices a little Dreyer sendup (cross-shaped shadow projected on filthy floor) and prays for a miracle ("You made me the way I am!"), the bars come free in her hands and she escapes into a thunderous downpour. In a shot repeated from Los Olvidados Susana trembles by the window of a nearby ranch, then passes out on the couch so the camera pans over her muddy legs. The doña of the house (Matilde Palou) lends a sympathetic ear to her tale of woe, the pious servant (María Gentil Arcos) provides the Thelma Ritter side-glance: "That one wouldn't look decent even in a nun's habit." A Renoir situation, three dopes around a siren: Patriarch with riding crop (Fernando Soler), son (Luis López Somoza) surrounded by books and foreman in the stables (Víctor Manuel Mendoza) are all spellbound by the usurper's bare shoulders. "Una pesadilla del demonio," a provocative infestation applauded by Buñuel with heated tempo within deep-focus arrangements. The heroine smeared with yolk following a sudden embrace in the chicken coop is typical of the hilarity beneath the heavy surfaces, another rich gag has her wiping glass panes while Soler disassembles and polishes a shotgun. "God helps those who help themselves," declares the Bible-thumper before switching proverbs, "Shoot first, ask questions later." Cracks in the familial order are papered over in a Sirk happy ending avant la lettre, mock-reactionary sunrise and galloping mare and all. In black and white.
--- Fernando F. Croce |