Saturday, July 16 | 8 pm
In this sumptuous, light-filled restaging of the 1900 Octave Mirbeau novel previously filmed by Jean Renoir and Luis Buñuel, ambitious, cosmopolitan Célestine (Léa Seydoux) is installed as a servant in the Lanlaire’s provincial home. Between fending off Monsieur Lanlaire’s advances and attending to Madame’s incessant demands, Célestine reflects on her life of servitude and pursues a destructive affair with M. Joseph (The Measure of a Man’s Vincent Lindon), the estate’s brooding groundskeeper. More faithful to the original source material than previous cinematic adaptations, Benoît Jacquot’s version retains an episodic, diary-like structure that flits nimbly between past and present. First and foremost, Diary of a Chambermaid is a superb showcase for the incandescent Seydoux (Blue is the Warmest Color, Spectre), who imbues the title role with a mixture of insolent sensuality and mercurial intelligence.
Director Benoît Jacquot 2015 France/Belgium 96 minutes NR DCP
