Around
63:00 minutes in Viridiana by Luis Biñuel, Viridiana begins a prayer with the paupers while
Jorge continues to rebuild the massive home he inherited from his father’s
death. As Viridiana guides the prayer, the objective sound of prayer dialogue
clashes with the sound of construction: hammering, clanking wood, cementing,
dump trucks, etc. This technique forces the viewer to consider the two
contrasting elements, or whether they contrast each other at all. Prayer is
supposed to be a form of communication with the sacred, that which is apart
from the ordinary, and that which established order in a chaotic world.
However, the loud and disturbing construction noises seem to disrupt the sound
ecology of the ritual prayer, where each individual has it’s own voice, or
niche, in the prayer, forming a community of sound. I was first tempted to
argue that Brent Plate’s Blasphemy: Art
That Offends encapsulates the entire scene, displaying the sacred act of
prayer being transgressed by the profane reconstruction of the plantation.
However, the prayer continues seemingly unobstructed, which I believe the sound
portrays well because the prayer continues with fluidity, although the visuals
may be more convincing given that there facial gestures give no indication of
disturbance. Because the sound ecology of the prayer was undisturbed by the
seemingly invasive construction noise, the viewer can consider the two sounds
as similarities rather than contrasts.
Ramona described Don Jaimes as a
good man, yet he acted poorly around Viridiana. His degenerating plantation was
a reflection of his deteriorating spiritual life (by spiritual, I mean
intangible). The paupers could behave well and perform work around the house,
but they could also lose their tempers with each other and treat each other
poorly. The prayer and construction scene builds on this concept of a false
dichotomy of the sacred and profane. For example, Don
Jaimes owned a Christian cross that concealed a knife within. In the prayer/construction
scene, both elements are represented as a rebuilding of some kind, either
physically or spiritually, indicating that the two factors compliment each
other. The profane actions of the paupers force the viewer to consider what
moral construct is necessary for coexistence, while the sacred actions of
Viridiana compel the viewer to consider what physical structures are necessary
to sustain the ideal moral paradigm. The physical and intangible cannot be
completely separated because, like good and bad, they co-occur in life, and in
individuals—as seen in Don Jaimes and the paupers, who could be good at times
or terrible as well. Although you cannot know what card will be dealt, you do
know that, as Jorge says, “All cats are grey by night.” Man is man, and his
good and bad actions, and his sacred and profane actions, are just elements
within the ecology of life.
I found your comments on the movie interesting, as I too was first brought to think of the clashing sounds from the prayer and the construction site as opposing one another and representing a conflict between the sacred and profane. I agree that they do interact with one another, and I think there's definitely something to say for them being complimentary instead of combative. It does indeed appear that they are undisturbed. However, my question is, what about the film's use of these two opposites? Yes, the characters praying are not disturbed by the construction, but the film purposefully mashes these two together. Do you think that perhaps that although there is no blasphemy with their presence in the story, but perhaps it is blasphemous how the camera doesn't seem to give the prayer its "reverence" but instead keeps interrupting it with the noise of the construction site?
ReplyDeleteI don't believe Bunuel meant for the mash up of the two scenes to convey a blasphemous disconnect of the prayer, but I do believe they were more combative than complimentary. It seemed to me to be a clashing of ideals, a clashing of the sacred and profane rather than the two existing complementary to each other. This scene gave me the feeling of two opposing forces almost battling to be undisturbed by the other and fighting back and forth throughout this extensive prayer. While the two were separated in space, the the speed and volume of the scene conveyed a competitive nature to me.
ReplyDeleteChristopher, it can definitely be perceived as blasphemous to not give the prayer its "reverence," bu,t as I wrote above, I am concerned with the facial expressions lacking any reactionary gesture and the lack of sound overlap. this might be a bit of a leap, but I was trying to take a different view on what seemed obviously blasphemous.
ReplyDeleteAlexander, they do sound very combative, but I am sort of taking an ecological approach (most relevant to my background) in analyzing the scene. For example, species are assumed to be competing in areas where the niches overlap. So maybe, due to lack of overlap, there is no competition, but rather each specializes in its own habitat: physical and spiritual. Although I want to say they are not competing, I am having a hard time supporting that the claim that they compliment each other. Instead of complimenting each other--which sounds like mutualism--I want to say they need to coexist since they both exist in the film. The correct balance of the sacred and profane may be the most practical ecosystem. The only example of "too much sacredness" is when Viridiana very robotically sleepwalks while performing what I thought to be sacred rituals.
I am probably being too risky flinging the words sacred and profane around like I have because they have definitions dependent on each other.