Diary of a Chambermaid

Diary of a Chambermaid (Le Journal d'une femme de chambre, 1964) is a French drama directed by Luis Buñuel that you can watch online on iFILM. Jeanne Moreau plays Celestine, a worldly Parisian maid who arrives at the Monteil household and quickly sizes up its inhabitants: a shoe-obsessed husband, a frigid wife, and a groundskeeper named Joseph who radiates something harder to name.

When a young girl from the village is raped and murdered, Celestine becomes convinced that Joseph is responsible. With no legal standing and no allies, she decides to use the only leverage she has — her own appeal — to draw out a confession. Michel Piccoli and Georges Géret round out an ensemble that Buñuel directs with cold, precise irony.

Adapted from Octave Mirbeau's novel, the film treats provincial respectability as a thin coat of paint over something rotten. Every character hides something; the most dangerous one always looks the most composed. Stream Diary of a Chambermaid (1964) online on iFILM — Buñuel at his most sardonic.