143 - Simon of the Desert, 1965, Mexico. Dir. Luis Bunuel.

Tuesday, May 23, 2017

143 - Simon of the Desert, 1965, Mexico. Dir. Luis Bunuel.

Simon the Stylite lived on a platform atop a pillar for 37 years.

Near what is now Aleppo, Syria.

He was born in what is now Turkey.

He came along during a time of great change, when the Roman Empire was declining and Christianity was rising rapidly.

As a child he gave himself wholly over to God.

He lived in a part of the world and during a time that is difficult for contemporary Westerners to understand.

When we think of churches, we may think of the Roman Catholic and the Protestant traditions. 

Perhaps we also know something of the Greek Orthodox, Eastern Orthodox, and Russian Orthodox.

But how much do we know of the Syriac, the Coptic, the Antiochian, the Oriental Orthodox, the Arab Orthodox, and the Eastern Catholic?

Along with their theologies and traditions?

We certainly do not know what it was like to live in the Middle East in the 5th century.

So it is difficult for us to understand the motivations of a man who chose to live out his life on a pillar in the desert.

On the surface it may seem like one of the most preposterous things we have ever heard.

We might think it is a great waste of a life.  We might think it is missing the point of grace.  We might believe he was motivated by a perverse pride.  We might believe he suffered from mental illness.

But do we know what he experienced in his heart?

It is certainly easy to make fun of something when you do not understand it.

I do not understand it.

And from watching the movie Simon of the Desert, I believe Luis Bunuel did not understand it.

But he had a good time making fun of it.

The cliché is that a critic of the church does not have a problem with God but has a problem with his "hypocritical" followers.

As long as the critic can keep saying that, he does not have to look in the mirror and deal with the condition of his own soul.

He does not have to do rigorous intellectual work.

He can stop thinking.

And point fingers.

And make fun of things.


Having said that, what if we watch this film without all that baggage.

What if we do not try to plumb the depths of Simon's soul or Bunuel's soul or our own souls.

What if we separate the film from the life of the historical person and watch it as a dramatic comedy.  Set in a historical period.

Simon lives atop a pillar.

His followers love him and want to bless him with a newer, taller pillar.

When he goes to mount the newer pillar they offer him priesthood.  He declines it, considering himself to be unworthy.

When his mother arrives, he asks that not even she stand between him and his love of God.  He hopes that if they are worthy they will meet again one day.

He climbs the pillar.

Various people come to him, including followers and curiosity seekers.

One man has had his hands cut off.  Simon heals his hands.  He slaps his daughter.

Others visit.  A priest.  A dwarf.  His mother.

Satan comes in the form of a woman.

Played by Sylvia Pinal.  A legendary Mexican actress.  In her third straight Luis Bunuel film we have seen.

She played Viridiana in Viridiana, Leticia in The Exterminating Angel, and now The Devil in Simon of the Desert.

She appears three times.  First, as an innocent little girl.  Second, as a woman dressed as Jesus Christ.  Third, as a toga-clad woman with a bared breast emerging from a self-moving coffin.

She does her best to tempt him.  To confuse him.  To make him deny Jesus.  But he remains steadfast.

Until finally an airplane flies overhead and she transports them to a discotheque where the hipsters are dancing the twist.

Simon wants to go home but she will not let him.  He is now stuck in this modern, wordly world.

The film is strengthened by the performance of Claudio Brook as Simon.

Brook also acted in all three Bunuel films we have just seen.

Here he plays it straight.  He does not wink or nod at the viewer.  He embraces his role with earnestness and sincerity.

The film is shot by Gabriel Figueroa, who lived to be 90 and had a long and prolific career--from 1932 to 1986--and who worked with Bunuel several times, including on his well-known film, Nazarin (1959).

I am curious where Bunuel will take us next.

Perhaps tomorrow we will find out.

Perhaps we will leave historical surrealist satires for awhile and enter the world of contemporary urban life.

With one of Europe's great stars.

Tune in tomorrow to find out.