valbrazon This is the second movie of Bunuel as i see. The first one was "Un chien andalou" and i didn't like much. "Simon of the Desert" is completely different and i really liked it.I liked it because the story is really original. It's maybe not a surrealist movie like he did for other movies, but there is something strange in it, for example the ending which is different from the rest of the film. Otherwise, i like the running time which is only 42 minutes, it's not too long or too short.It's based on a true story of the ascetic 5th-century Syrian Saint Simeon Stylites, who lived for 39 years on top of a column.Bunuel could not achieved all desired sequences, due to lack of funds.

Aditya Gokhale It is typical of every religion to preach that self-sacrifice is the path to find God. That giving up all the "pleasures" of the world will purify man. Wonder where those teachings came from, but it is quite a common trait, no matter what religion. Embrace asceticism, rid yourself of the so-called "worldly pleasures" or "sins" and achieve your spiritual or religious goals! The ultimate path to salvation is here! The Catholic teachings are no different, and Luis Bunuel has always been highly critical of organized religion. He has dedicated so many of his films as tools to launch razor sharp, scathing attacks on these beliefs or the Church in general.Loosely based on the real life story of the 5th century ascetic Saint Simeon Stylites, who spent 39 years atop a column ,"Simon of the Desert" is no exception. Picture a bearded monk, Simon (Claudio Brook), devoting his life to ascetic ways. He has already spent six years, six weeks and six days atop a pillar in the middle of the desert, praying for spiritual purification. He has gained a good amount of followers; mostly peasants, some priests and other village folk who believe that he has been blessed with special powers. They come to him for help or deliver some food from time to time. He is offered a brand new, taller pillar as a token of their faith and respect for his sacrifice. Simon continues his act of good faith, keeps delivering sermons and can even seemingly perform miracles.....Sounds like a serious, religious, deeply meaningful, preachy biography of a Saint? Not in the Luis Bunuel universe! Trust Bunuel to turn something that sounds very deep and heavy into a darkly humorous, absurd mock-fest that is unrelenting and uncompromising in its ways so much so as to scandalize half the audiences who could be believers! So this whole God-fearing stuff takes a dramatic turn as some of the priests and peasants start getting critical of Simon and think it is all in vain. Simon is taken to be an arrogant man by some, and a few others think he is faking it. Simon himself begins to deem his actions futile on several occasions. What's more...the Devil shows up too, and tries to "tempt" Simon in his many ways by appearing in the form of a beautiful woman (Silvia Pinal) in an attempt to seduce Simon out of his saintly ways! Will Simon yield to the temptation? Bunuel takes only about 45 minutes to drive his point across and does it with his masterful touch. Accompanied by Gabriel Figueroa's beautiful camera-work, Bunuel makes unpredictable transitions from realism to surrealism to hilarious absurdism all in the miniscule time frame that was available to him. Apparently Gustavo Alatriste, the producer could no longer fund the film for some reasons and that is how Bunuel was forced to abruptly end the film (with a bizarre ending that has been criticized in several write-ups, but do not be misled...it does have its place..and its own charm based on the interpretation), while in reality he wished to add more material to the film. Whatever the reasons, the end result is a highly original, savagely funny and one of the most eccentric works of cinema from the twisted mind of Luis Bunuel.Pay especially careful attention to certain scenes in which Simon mutters random religious ramblings on seeing some ordinary creatures like an insect (that has absolutely no idea of what is going on!) and later tries to do the same with an inanimate object but gives up! Or the scene in which Simon performs a miracle and gives a cripple a new pair of hands...and the eventual consequence of it! Or that brutally funny scene in which some of the priests don't seem to know the meaning of a particular Biblical reference. Every scene drips a lot of really clever writing....and there is no question that this is an exemplary work of genius from the great director.Bunuel's pick of actors add to the amazing experience with their superb performances, especially Claudio Brook, Silvia Pinal and the midget Jesus Fernandez."Simon of the Desert" is the kind of film that leaves you wanting more. Another 45 minutes of running time perhaps? Check out this masterpiece...do not waste anymore time.Score: 10/10.

cking-37-372041 Simon of the Desert is a wonderful and tasteful depiction between good versus evil. I enjoyed this movie although it had it slow parts and was hard to sit through at the very beginning. The film starts off with Simon standing on a pillar after dedicating years of his life to praying for everyone sins a crowd has formed around him to move him to a new pillar to continue his dedication. Simon is very hard on his self and sometimes relents to physical torture to show his loyalty to god with hopes that he forgives the rest of the people. This movie then becomes comedic once one of Simon's miracles gives a thief his hands back. Once this person has hands again the first thing he does is smack one of his children and drags them out of the crowd formed around Simon. The director then showcases the devils mysterious ways by casting a young female as the Satan. She attempts to lure Simon off his pillar to join her in celebration of the devils life by exposing her breast to him. He refuses and she vanishes, but returns throughout the movie in different characters. Simon portrays himself as a loyal disciple of God, but judges everyone who comes to the pillar to feed him or ask for a miracle. I found Simon as the ultimate hypocrite. The film is full of suspense after Satan makes his first appearance. Mostly because Satan can appear in Simon's dreams and day dreaming at any time in the most mysterious ways. He enjoys sending beautiful nudes to see Simon to persuade him to the dark side. The movie then moves forward showing Simon and the female in a different period partaking in smoking, drinking and dancing. I felt the overall theme for this movie is atheism. It is obvious the director does not believe in God after watching this movie. I would recommend this film to anyone who loves to watch the conflicts between being Christian and atheist.

lyolyok When this film started I had no idea where it was going, but I became quickly sucked into its fascinating plot line. It is truly a unique film, and I almost didn't even know what to think of it. Extremely surreal in its subtle religious message, it held my attention for its sadly short time span. It comes across something of a parable to me. You have a man who insists on being extremely sacrificial for God, and then you have the devil who continually comes to tempt him. He is almost a Jesus figure. Then, of course, things get very surreal and mixed up and he is lost to a world that he cannot control. It's almost as though Luis Bunuel is saying no one can stay truly pure in a society that constantly bombards its public with sin. He was obviously rather pessimistic about the state of the 60's. But it's very ingenious how he does about this. Simon is up on a pedestal for the entire film. He seemingly can't be touched. But what he doesn't realize is that just because he places himself out of the reach of the devil doesn't mean that "she" can't simply follow him up there. He separates himself physically but it's not enough to separate him emotionally. Personally I have more hope for human kind and the power that god has over us, but I certainly must respect how this director can translate a message on film into a true artistic statement. An idea like that takes true guts to go about making. It's a film that was destined from the start to make no money and fade quickly from the public eye. But it is also a gem of a film that will someday hopefully be rediscovered for a man of genius. One willing to go against the norm.