I really loved the film. Bunuel has easily become one of my favourite directors,he is a genius!Now,
A)What was that with the dog under the carriage? The one that Jorge bought and the other,a smaller one, that Bunuel kept showing afterwards.
B)What happenned to the lepper that Jorge bribed? Why did he bribe him,since the lepper could kill him after this,or rape V. himself.The whole scene seemed a little bizzare to me.
Thanks in advance!
A) It´s obvious that Bunuel bemoans the habitual animal cruelty in his contemporary Spain - it was apparently something of a tradition to force the poor dogs run all the way, god knows how long, under the horse carriage on a leash instead of taking it onto the carriage. Sure hope such barbarity is past now.
B) Been a long time since I saw Viridiana, don´t remember that scene. Can´t help, sorry.
"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan
I think it's assumed that the leper Jorge bribed was apprehended by the police that walked in after Jorge told him to go find the money.
The dog scene as the other poster suggested, refers in part to the actual practice of doing this to dogs in Spain in its history. However in the context of the film it rather suggests that kindness will turn out to be fruitless in the long run possibly foreshadowing what would become of Viridiana's paupers.
Regarding the dog - my thought exactly; the sequence suggested the futility of individuals trying to eradicate gratuitous suffering. However many dogs (or lepers, or paupers) you rescue, there are still countless others you can't help.
shareI actually bit disagree with it.
The dog scene is equivalent to the scene with bee saved by uncle from drowning. Iam persuaded it is supoussed to show complexity of personalities- while uncle and his son are sinners and not clean beings, inside they are good and thats the most important.
I think that both scenes (the dog and the bee, both saved) show how people is easily kind with animals (a quite easy effort) while being extremely selfish and unkind to other human being.
In the movie "the act of killink", for example, you see a mass murderer being kind with a duckling. Even Hitler loved his dogs.
I think this is a parallel to religion: people loving "a god" while hating other people (Viridiana, her uncle, the poor people. they all despise each other, but are openly catholic)
'What has been affirmed without proof can also be denied without proof.' (Euclid)
A) The dog was a comment on poverty as well as animal cruelty. The dog is tired and hungry and so are his owners.
B) Jorge sensed that the beggar, who was not a leper, could be bribed and that would satisfy him.
To say a little often is to tell more than to say a great deal.share