Susana la perverse

This Bunuel film is based on a story written by a certain Manuel Reachi (who incidentally, like the director Bunuel, was born in Spain and died in Mexico). The film indirectly (and in some ways directly) glorifies the pious Christian faithful--here personified by the lady of the house and her chief maid who can spot "the devil" before the others do and is ready to drive it out as Jesus did in the Bible. This is a definite departure for Bunuel, who has never really shown a true Christian point of view in his films (except in Nazarin) but only chose to ridicule often than respect it.

The film is also a major departure for actor Fernando Soler playing the role of the rich landowner who gives a tepid performance compared to the one he gave in the other Bunuel film "The Great Madcap" (1949) made 2 years before this film.

This film, judging by some of the reviews on this page, seems to have a provocative effect: one person seems to feel that Susana is evil incarnate and should have been killed. Perhaps that's the point: Bunuel may very well have meant her to be a caricature of the "bad girl." While she uses her sexuality as a weapon, she is merely provoking desires that were always there. The family she inserts herself into is an apparently happy one, and perhaps itself a stereotype, with feelings under the surface waiting to escape, just as Susana herself is an escapee. Her seduction technique is itself pointedly obvious, and Bunuel may very well have been telling something of a joke with this film, neither his best nor worst. And the actress who plays Susana does have nice shoulders.

"Susana" lacks the usual touches of irony and surrealism present in other Buñuel films. Buñuel tells a straightforward story - the sort of melodrama that dominated the Mexican movie theaters at the time.

Susana escapes from the reformatory in which she was locked. It's a dark and stormy night. Meanwhile in a ranch nearby the members of a peaceful family follow their occupations. An old servant maid is mumbling that in nights like this the devil walks around. Thunder and lightning. Susana's face appears in the window. She faints. She is brought inside the house. Susana is a young girl with a wayward sensuality (remember, we are in 1951). Her presence will bring discord and threaten the stability of the family.

Buñuel, even in his most surrealistic films, was always deeply anchored in the reality. That is why his films are so strong. His films have a taste of earth, humanity, sensuality. "Susana" is in fact a very sensual film. The camera subtly follows Susana, her chaotic sensuality, and the other characters' reactions to her. She's the main character but not much is told about her. She was locked in a reformatory. Why? We are not told. The world doesn't accept her and her ways. Does she know what she really wants? Unfortunately it was not possible for Buñuel to give us a deeper portrait of Susana. We see her mostly through the eyes of the outside world. Why is Susana like that? What happened to Susana?

"Susana" is an over-the-top melodrama - seemingly innocent, but in the "happy ending", that seems to come out of a fairy tale, some people may detect a hidden laughter. The film was a big success in Mexico and contributed to establish definitely Buñuel as a commercially viable director.

Rosita Quintana as Susana proves her wide acting range (a shy governess in "La Ausente" and a sensual temptress in "Susana"). She's beautiful and in "Susana", she's a real volcano. Fernando Soler also distinguishes himself as the pater familias (he was also the moralist judge in "Sensualidad" and the dissolute drinking father in "Oveja Negra").

Actors and scenery are harmoniously integrated in "Susana" and Buñuel is (as always) a master of images and very adept in creating mood. Highly recommended!

Susana is a fallen girl. At the beginning we see her in a reformatory, but the reasons that brought her there remain in the dark. We just find out that she has learned nothing new in the two years she has spent there and that she behaves in the same unruly and rebellious way like when she was first admitted to the place.

She is brought into a dark and sinister cave which is teeming with rats and spiders. We know nothing about the reasons for this punishment and we can't avoid feeling sorry for her: Whatever she might have done, it does not justify an inhuman treatment such as this.

Susana is religious, and the god she calls on is kind and generous. So the miracle happens, the bars of the prison cell at which she is rattling suddenly give way and she succeeds in escaping into a night full of darkness and relentless rain.

She even can make it into paradise: A landowner's family takes her in, after she has told them a pack of lies. She is allowed to work as a maid and gains the confidence and the affection of the mother, while the father at first has a disapproving attitude towards her.

But the family's son and the steward live on the estate, too, and they don't fail to notice Susana's outstanding physical attraction. As the girl also knows how to place her charms, they both fall victim to her.

Susana, however, does not seem capable of developing any true feelings. Life is just a villainous game for her in which the rules are set by herself. The aim is to destroy the well established order. When finally even the landowner succumbs to the lure of love the initial situation becomes reversed and nothing stays the same: the mother turns into an enraged enemy, while father and son become rivals and the steward is dismissed.

It is then the latter who sets the decisive ball rolling which leads once more to a reversal of the circumstances: He finally makes use of his knowledge of Susana's escape from the reformatory, which up to now he kept to himself in order to increase his chances of winning Susana's favor, and Susana, however fiercely she may be defending herself, cannot avoid being arrested.

The game is lost, and, as it often happens in a melodrama, it is the refused lover, who makes it break down. In the end, the episode with Susana means nothing more than the memory of a nightmare for the landowner's family. And, after the re-establishment of the initial situation, the characters cannot help asking themselves if everything has really happened.

The attentive spectator will come to a different conclusion. He will notice the fundamental fragility of an order that is well established only in appearance. And he will not be able to avoid drawing a frightful parallel to his own life, in which nothing is secure and reliable either.

In a stormy night, the sexy Susana (Rosita Quintana) escapes from the reformatory and reaches the ranch of Don Guadalupe (Fernando Soler), a family man that lives with his wife Dona Carmen (Matilde Palou) and their beloved son Alberto (Luis López Somoza). When they see Susana, Dona Carmen, who is Christian and Good Samaritan, gives shelter to the youngster that lies to them, but the old maid Felisa (María Gentil Arcos) is not convinced that she is telling the truth. The seductive Susana uses her beauty and sensuality to seduce Don Guadalupe, Alberto and the henchman Jesus (Víctor Manuel Mendoza) and destabilizing the family.

"Susana" is a melodramatic film by Buñuel with a simple story of a sexy woman that uses her body to seduce man and gets what she wants. The conclusion is moralist and conventional, but the film is good and Rosita Quintana is perfect for the role of Susana. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Susana"