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Susana (Rosita Quintana) finds her desperate prayers answered when she escapes from Mexico's State Reformatory and lands up at a country ranch. Offered a second chance, she's accepted as a maid by the Guadalupe family; her beauty making her an inescapable object of desire to the men of the house. All of them - the uncouth ranch foreman Jesús (Luis Lopez Somoza), the Guadalupe patriarch (Fernando Soler) and his bookish son Alberto (Victor Manuel Mendoza) are ensnared by her mere presence in their stifling middle-class home. Thrilled by the power she wields over the men, Susana manipulates her admirers against each other in the hope that the fittest survivor would provide her with the best comforts.
Made in Mexico in 1951, Susana is filled with the characteristic touches and familiar motifs of Luis Buñuel's body of work. Class tension and sexual repression is revealed beneath the rational façade of the conventional nuclear family. The film's subversion of religious iconography and its uses of animal metaphors for basic human drives reveal the bold style of L Âge d'Or and Diary of a Chambermaid.
Made in Mexico in 1951, Susana is filled with the characteristic touches and familiar motifs of Luis Buñuel's body of work. Class tension and sexual repression is revealed beneath the rational façade of the conventional nuclear family. The film's subversion of religious iconography and its uses of animal metaphors for basic human drives reveal the bold style of L Âge d'Or and Diary of a Chambermaid.
Review
A stinging assault on Mexico's rich and religious, in particular their indolence and hypocrisy --Radio Times
Made by the master in Mexico...'Susana'' is full of the sort of Bunuelian touches that forever separate all of Bunuel's films from those of everyone else --New York Times
Made by the master in Mexico...'Susana'' is full of the sort of Bunuelian touches that forever separate all of Bunuel's films from those of everyone else --New York Times
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Susana has a spellbinding quality that draws one into the film from the very beginning
4 Feb 2011
Format:DVD
Susana has a spellbinding quality that draws one into the film from the very beginning. It could be the picturesque Mexican settings or the music that matches the actions so well, but more than that, the story is exceptional. The story has enough drama and melodrama to compete with Greek classics. The story is also captivating because Susana is seemingly innocent and even meek, but in reality she is a crafty and a sinister woman. Her skill is employing temptation to manipulate others, however chaos also ensues from her work.
The story begins when Susana is trown into a cell in a reformatory (which looks like a prison). In a moment of fear, she pleads to God for a way out, which she soon finds. She excapes her imprisionment on that rainy and stormy night and finds her way onto a ranch. There, she plays coy at times and does all she can to make another fall for her the rest of the time. But she doesn't limit herself to one target - one of the chief ranch workers, the owner of the ranch and even the owner's son are all her targets.
Luis Buñuel had an amazing skill as a director and watching Susana will make one appreciate his talent. As we try to figure out what Susana will try next, while we wonder who she really is, it is hard not to be taken in by this story with timeless appeal. Although the plot is simple enough for everyone to appreciate, there is also symbolism and surrealism present, if one looks for them. Susana is a great film and one that I would recommend to all audiences.
The story begins when Susana is trown into a cell in a reformatory (which looks like a prison). In a moment of fear, she pleads to God for a way out, which she soon finds. She excapes her imprisionment on that rainy and stormy night and finds her way onto a ranch. There, she plays coy at times and does all she can to make another fall for her the rest of the time. But she doesn't limit herself to one target - one of the chief ranch workers, the owner of the ranch and even the owner's son are all her targets.
Luis Buñuel had an amazing skill as a director and watching Susana will make one appreciate his talent. As we try to figure out what Susana will try next, while we wonder who she really is, it is hard not to be taken in by this story with timeless appeal. Although the plot is simple enough for everyone to appreciate, there is also symbolism and surrealism present, if one looks for them. Susana is a great film and one that I would recommend to all audiences.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By BPR
Format:DVD
Although far from being Buñuel best film, "Susana" is an excellent melodrama. Buñuel has managed to write a script that may appear to be a simple straight-foward studio film but uses the strength it has in the base characters and the way in which these characters are brought to the screen to show a film that is quite insightful, playing on deception, love and the strength of a family unit, from the violent beginning to the immediately satisfying ending. The casting is excellent throughout. Luis Somoza is great as love-lorn son Alfredo, Maria Gentil Arcos plays her role as the religious head maid who sees right through Susana's deceptive ways and is scared to let her know it and Matilde Palou puts in an excellent performance as wife Dona as we see the character slowly go from a doting woman who just wants to look after Susana to someone who eventually snaps and starts whipping her. The real stars of the show though are Fernando Soler as Don Guadalupe whose powerful screen presence at the right times allows the viewer to slowly watch a man fall in love with the much younger Susana, and Rosita Quintana, who, in the title role, plays Susana so well on so many levels. From exuding sexiness to allure the male characters, to the victim of escaping a 'rape' (she never, it's the lie she tells when she reaches the household for the first time in the rain), to being a downright nasty bitch, Quintana brings this film up a peg from your average melodrama. The score isn't overpowering and is typical for the genre. As a whole, some Buñuel fans may be disappointed by the lack of surrealism he is famous for, but as a melodrama, the films holds up very well, thanks to being clinically shot and the superb cast. 4/5
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By Peter
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Fasten your seat belts and observe as 'Hurricane Susana' enters into the lives of a family and tears them apart .... piece by little piece.
I am thoroughly exhausted after watching this film ... but in a good way.
I thought the acting on Susana's part was absolutely amazing ... she inhabited two completely different characters simultaneously, the meek and humble young woman who would not let butter melt in her mouth and Susana the Siren who, with one sultry glance renders the hearts of men into chaos.
I am thoroughly exhausted after watching this film ... but in a good way.
I thought the acting on Susana's part was absolutely amazing ... she inhabited two completely different characters simultaneously, the meek and humble young woman who would not let butter melt in her mouth and Susana the Siren who, with one sultry glance renders the hearts of men into chaos.
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4.3 out of 5 stars
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