Viridiana

Banned in Spain, condemned by the Vatican and celebrated at Cannes, Buñuel’s satire about an aspiring nun takes a stinging crack at society.

Before taking her vows, a young novitiate (Silvia Pinal) visits her wealthy uncle, who is struck by her resemblance to his late wife. When his lecherous impulses thwart her plans, she resolves to dedicate her life to helping the poor.

Following decades of exile in Mexico, Buñuel returned to Spain to make his first feature film in his native country. This being a Buñuel film, it doesn’t hold back in its withering attack on society nor shy away from the heaviest subjects of suicide, rape and murder. The film was denounced by the Vatican, banned in Franco’s Spain and rapturously received in France where it won the 1961 Palme d’Or. In 2022, it featured in Sight & Sound’s Greatest Films of all Time directors’ poll, with late filmmaker Horace Ové among those nominating it.