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To repent for his sins and become a better man, Simon (Claudio Brook)
has spent the last 8+ years atop a column in meditation and asceticism.
For the people around him though, he has long become a phenomenon, much
more a tourist attraction than a holy man (as the locals still refer to
him), and even the local clergymen see him more as a symbol (for whatever,
actually) than actually try to understand his message. In today's society,
he would have long become a freakish but essentially empty media
personality ... Simon of course is sincere in botch message and
asceticism - but he's also a self-righteous bastard, who pushes those
around him who might need him like his mother (Hortensia
Santoveña) away for the sake of his self-created holy
mission, and he likes the tone of his voice when he preaches to others,
while he has never anything really profound to say. This of course means
he's the perfect target for the Devil, who tries to break him several
timesin several guises before he turns into a woman (Silvia Pilal) - who
ultimately gets him off his column and into a contemporary beat club ... Simon
del Desierto is most certainly one of arthouse and filmschool fave
Luis Buñuel's best films, a beautifully shot biting satire on religion
that seems to be surprisingly current even today and has lost none of its
bite. What makes the film work though (besides its beautiful scenery and
its well-placed splashes of surrealism) is that it doesn't so much make
fun of religion as such, but of those who use religion as an excuse for
their shortcomings (from the priests who need Simon as something to pray
to even if they never questioned what he stands for to Simon himself, who
climbed up the column to escape responsibility it would seem), something
that hasn't changed a bit, and it also touches upon the
famous-for-being-famous phenomenon, something that has really taken off
only in recent years. But let's not forget, all of this is veiled in a
slightly absurd but well-told story that treats its topics subtle enough
to not just lose itself in church-criticism or the like. Highly
recommended!
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amazon.co.uk
amazon.de
eThaiCD.com
find Simon of the Desert at adultvideouniverse.com
