Susana.

Reviewed by Rafael Ocasio, Agnes Scott Coll., Decatur, GA -- Críticas, 8/15/2008

(Mexico, 1951) b&w. Spanish (English subtitles). 86 mins. Cinemateca, dist. by Facets. 2007. $24.95. DVD. DRAMA

A film by famous Spanish filmmaker Luis Buñuel, this is perhaps the least favorite of his commercial production, which he directed while in exile in Mexico after the Spanish civil war. Susana is a young woman who has escaped from a reformatory and found refuge in a hacienda. There she pretends to have been running away from an abusive stepfather who had made sexual advances toward her, and creates a plan  to take over the plantation that involves seducing the hacienda’s owner, a serious family man; his sexually naïve young son; and a macho overseer. Although the plot is fairly predictable, the film clearly displays Buñuel’s stamp, particularly his interest in exploring the impact of the Catholic religion on sexual dynamics. This film also has historical importance because of Buñuel’s creative collaborators. The script is based on a novel by Spanish writer Manuel Reachi and adapted by the Spanish director Jaime Salvador, both of whom were also exiles in Mexico, where they died. The Mexican playwright Rodolfo Usigli provided additional dialogs to a script written by Buñuel. Recommended for collections on Mexico’s Golden Age in cinema.