Diary of a Chambermaid · reception & legacy

1964 · Luis Buñuel

How Diary of a Chambermaid has been received, argued over, and remembered.

The arc

Landing between the scandal-makers, it was received in 1964 as oddly restrained, 'realist' Buñuel — barely a dream sequence in sight. Now it's read as the launchpad of his great late French period: the first Jean-Claude Carrière collaboration, and one of his most quietly furious political films.

What's debated

The perennial cinephile face-off: Renoir's sunnier 1946 Hollywood version vs Buñuel's colder, crueller one — and whether this is 'minor Buñuel' or secretly one of his sharpest.

Its footprint

Jeanne Moreau in the ankle boots is the image everyone keeps: Buñuel's legendary foot fetish given its most elegant showcase, endlessly screencapped and cited whenever his obsessions come up.

Where it stands

A connoisseur's Buñuel — overshadowed by Belle de Jour and The Discreet Charm, but a reliable 'actually, this one' pick among his devotees.

★ Did you know? The far-right agitators at the film's edges chant 'Vive Chiappe!' — Jean Chiappe was the real Paris police prefect whose forces shut down Buñuel's L'Âge d'or in 1930. Thirty-four years later, this was Buñuel's revenge in-joke.