SIMON OF THE DESERT Movie Review

Simon del Desierto

Based loosely on the life of the 15th-century saint Simeon Stylites, Buñuel's dark, 43-minute comedy is the story of Simon (Claudio Brook), who dwells in self-imposed solitude at the top of a 30-foot pillar in the middle of a barren desert in order to devote himself to repentance and contemplation. But Simon discovers that solitude doesn't come easily; below him passes a parade of strange characters, all of whom either want something from him or simply want to toss in their two cents worth. He blesses many and performs miracles for others, including restoring hands to a man who is without them (the man's first use for his miraculous new gift is to slap his kid). In addition, the devil (Viridiana’s Silvia Pinal) pops up in a variety of alternately tempting and horrifying forms, all designed to test Simon's resolve, and leading to a witty and surprisingly contemporary apocalyptic conclusion. This is a compact, wickedly funny, thoroughly blasphemous satire that packs an astounding amount of cynicism about the human condition into a remarkably short amount of screen time. This is a striking and hilarious little surrealist classic.

NEXT STOP … Viridiana, Nazarin, The Milky Way

1966 46m/B Claudio Brook, Silvia Pinal, Enrique Alvarez Felix; D: Luis Bunuel; W: Luis Bunuel; C: Gabriel Figueroa; M: Raul Lavista. VHS HTV, HHT, DVT