If you don't know a thing about the time this flick was made then you will think what is all the fuss about because it's 90 minutes of blah blah. That's correct but if you place it in it's era then I can understand that the church tried to ban this flick.Not that it is shocking or so but it was made by Luis Buñuel, a director living in exile and in 1962 Le Peuple (newspaper) made an effort to say he should bee seen by a psychiatrist. It was his first flick made in Spain and controversial it became even seen for a long time as a lost flick. But here it is.The flick was the Spanish entry for the Golden Palm but the Vatican tried to stop that. They succeeded in some way because it was lost in Spain for 16 years. Due a novice playing the main lead it's there where the catholics found their blasphemy. Somehow I can understand that the people aren't impressed by God after all in this flick that what makes it hard to take back then. I won't recommand it for those who think it's all about Satanism or whatsoever, it isn't. But the novice being drugged by her uncle and being undressed (just some cleavage) was shocking and controversial. Overall, a bit of a demonstration against religion to show that not everybody is impressed by religion. Only for those seeking out some Mexican-Spanish history. Gore 0/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 0/5 Story 3/5 Comedy 0/5

Bunuel is, for me, the most original and creative filmmaker from Spain. I love all his films, including those from his Mexican phase which are meant to be poorer but are not. Viridiana is a beautiful transition between his Mexican films and his European period (in fact, Viridiana is a co-production and the actress is a Mexican star). The film is extremely beautiful, and this is just magic, for Viridiana is about the darkest aspects of human behaviour. Poverty, selfishness, the impossibility to change things to make the world a better place... all this and much more too is found in this film. And, yet, you love all the shots, beautifully arranged. The endings is intriguing and invites you to see Viridiana many more times.

Wow, people writing too serious reviews for a film that is pretty much ordinary. Bunuel's Nazarin or Simon del Desierto are much better movies than this one. You people take the message of the movie and write reviews regarding only the message. Religion sucks. That's pretty much it. Bunuel isn't a genius, he is even quite predictive in his work which makes him boring. I liked Nazarin really much, but all his films are only communist and nihilistic propaganda. World sucks, Church sucks the most, there is no morality etc. I'ts simply boring. We all know the world and how it works, and then he makes bunch of movies where he shows us what we already know from our own experience...come on man. Sure he was big time director in Spain in the time communism was hype, but communism died..and his movies now represent just that - something that died. Viridiana had an interesting opening 15 min....after the death of her uncle the movie just got boring and predictive. This could have been a really nice thriller/drama, but it just looks like Bunuel changed his mind in the middle of the movie, and simply changed course.. Sucks.. I gave a 6 only because it's Bunuel, and interesting first 15-20 min...

While 'Viridiana' contains some well known aspects of L. Buñuel's movies, like fetishism or voyeurism, its main target is, like in 'L'Age D'Or', religion and more particularly Catholicism with its gospel of pity and altruism. This gospel is personified in an aspirant-nun, played sublimely by the Mexican actress Silvia Pinal. But, faced with utterly disgraceful behavior on the part of the poor people she wanted to help, she becomes on the tones of Haendel's music an anti-Messiah.For the Catholic Church this movie is fundamentally a blasphemy, symbolized by its hellish parody of the Last Supper (the picture by Leonardo Da Vinci) with the apostles painted as vile and vicious paupers and beggars. Another of L. Buñuel's more controversial viewpoints is his misogyny expressed by Don Jaime's illegitimate son, Jorge: 'all cats are grey at night'.With a formidable casting, Silvia Pinal being the jewel of the team, this movie didn't lose even a shadow of its subversive bite at Christian morality. A must see for all lovers of world cinema.