Nazarín

about faith as only manner to live. about the struggle to be Christian. all in the web of Bunuel's cruel and subtle irony. a remarkable film for the image of a way. for the crumbs from Don Quixote. for the science to explore social expectations and the self protection of many. grace full, courageous, cruel, cold, the same Bunuel who looking the decomposition of illusions. a man. and two woman. Mexican villages. the message. the sacrifice. and the shadow of doubt. it is more than a religious film. like each film of Bunuel, it represents perfect support for reflection. about life, people and faith's expressions. about ideal. and about its high price. nothing new, at the first sigh. but useful. for define yourself.

A non-denominational journeyman priest wanders across the sins , plagues and poverty of the lower classes and secular world . Along the way he experiencies a number of thunderous episodes that have relation with the Gospels .At the beginning he lives at an old hostel along with a few prostitutes who rob him some belongings . Later on , Nazarin undertakes a religious journey followed by the problematic and epileptic Beatriz : Marga Lopez , and, by Andara : Rita Macedo who formerly murdered a woman . Nazarin efforts to follow Christ's teachings, he then learns the thought-provoking lessons about he can get charity as well as give it .

Here Buñuel never ridicules religion, but he carries out a sour critical to limited religious aspects, and he observes how irrelevant most of his work is to the sinners Nazarin tangles with. This is a scathing indictment of Christianity , well written and directed by the great filmmaker Buñuel. Drama, religion, and documentary-alike account of whores, waifs, beggars, dwarf, street urchins and poor people in the blocks, streets and outdoors from Mexico country. "Nazarin" is a true Buñuel hero well represented by Francisco Rabal who gives a very good acting as Nazarin , a priest who gathers together a little group of disciples wandering throughout the Mexican desert as a cross between JesusChrist and Don Quixote. It results to be a perfect vehicle for Francisco Rabal as the defrocked reverend attempting to relive Christ's life. The Spanish actor Francisco Rabal is well accompanied by an enjoyable Mexican cast such as : Marga López, Rita Macedo, Ignacio López Tarso, Murayama and Rosanda Monteros who acted in The Magnificent Seven.

It contains an evocative and atmospheric cinematography in black and white, shot in Churubasco studios and exteriors filmed in Mexican landscapes by the expert cameraman Gabriel Figueroa , Indio Fernandez's regular photographer . The motion picture was competently directed by Luis Buñuel , at his grimmest and usual style. It was directed in his Mexican period, once he exiled from Spain to France and later on, Mexico . The first one he made in Mexico was "Gran Casino" with the singer idol Jorge Negrete, following "The great madcap or El gran calavera" with Fernando Soler. Then he was hired by producer Oscar Dancigers to make the successful "The forgotten ones or Los olvidados". Buñuel went on directing a in Mexico several films, some of them with same producer, such as : "The devil and the flesh, Mexican bus ride, The brute, Robinson Crusoe, A woman without love, Wuthering heighs, Archibald Cruz's criminal life , Evil Eden, The young one, Angel Exterminator, Simon of the desert" . Exiled Buñuel followed a French period including titles as "Diary of a chambermaid, Belle de Jour, The milky way, Discreet charm of Bourgeoise, The phantom of liberty". Of course, this great Spanish actor also shot films in Spain, such as : "Hurdes tierra sin pan", "Tristana", "Viridiana" and his last one "Obscure object of desire". Rating : 7/10. Better than average. Indispensable and essential watching for Luis Buñuel aficionados.

Spanish director Luis Buñuel career spanned almost 50 years, from 1929 to 1977. Arguably, his best films were those he made during his exile in Mexico - from the late forties to the early 60s. There he had to deal with very cheap budgets, and work in an industry interested mainly in churning commercial movies to unsophisticated audiences, yet he somehow managed to make interesting, thought provoking movies that have stand the test of time. This movie is based on a novel by Spanish author Benito Perez Galdos - and the adaptation is quite faithful, even if the setting is now early 20th century Mexico instead of early 20th century Spain. The protagonist, Nazarin, is a priest who tries to live a life that is as faithful as it can be to the one prescribed by Christ. The question many would ask is whether such endeavor would be possible, without incurring in the hostility, incomprehension and mockery of your fellow human beings. As it happens, he suffers a lot of indignities, yet he remains stubborn (until the controversial final shot) to this objective. I think Buñuel wanted to show Nazarin as a somewhat ridiculous figure, but perhaps inadvertently, his stubbornness (at least to this viewer) comes out as admirable. In any case, a great film.

Luis Bunuel has always been a filmmaker whose work was obscure to me. My first experience with him was The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeosie, often considered his greatest work, with which I became so frustrated and bored that I eventually shut the tape off. Likewise Belle de Jour, which is almost certainly his best known film and also generally considered one of his many masterpieces, didn't interest me very much at all. I didn't hate it like I did Discreet, but I didn't like it. Third, I saw L'Age d'Or. Finally, I had gotten somewhere. Fourth, Los Olvidados, also good. Still, neither L'Age d'Or nor Los Olvidados blew me away. Great films, but not masterpieces.

Nazarin is my fifth Bunuel, and I like it just a tad more than those other two. It is about a priest from Spain now in Mexico who refuses to live in the kind of luxury most priests live in. He wants to be more like Jesus, leading the meekest life possible. He's also willing to forgive everyone for anything, and to suffer without protest. I'm pretty sure Bunuel does not sympathize with the character, and sees him as rather self-righteous. However, I only assume that because of my knowledge of the director, whose most famous quotation is "Thank God, I'm still an atheist," which he apparently said in an interview over this very film (I get this information from John Baxter's book about Bunuel, if you're interested). The interviewer who dragged those words from Bunuel's mouth must have been himself confused about Nazarin. One who was more predisposed to believe in religious conviction, who also knows nothing about Bunuel, might see the priest as a heroic figure. This is especially true if that viewer has his/her own criticisms of organized religion. The priest may be somewhat self-righteous, but he seems to be basically a good man. When he harbors a violent prostitute in his room in order to protect her (and, presumably, to save her soul), people begin to find out and assume that their relationship is sexual. His superiors assume the same and punish him for it. Later on, he suffers even worse punishments from clerics.

"Nazarin" directed by Luis Bunuel presents an extraordinary view of religion in Mexico. As written by the director and Julio Alejandro, his notable collaborator, this was a film that put Mexican cinema in the international map after receiving the Grand Prix in Cannes that year. It's a disturbing film because Mr. Bunuel delves deep into what's wrong with the church.

Nazarin, by all reckoning, is a saint. This young priest is seen living a life of poverty in a seedy pension of a city. He doesn't have enough for himself, but he doesn't mind parting with a coin when a beggar appears by his window asking for help. At the same time, he takes into his small room a prostitute that has been hurt in a fight with another woman. Andara, the woman repays his kindness by burning the room and the whole building! Nazarin is seen taking to the countryside begging for food. Andara and Beatriz, two prostitutes from his old town follow him. Nazarin's life parallels that of Jesus. In fact, this saintly figure makes a case for humility.

Of course,Mr. Bunuel had no religion in mind when he and Mr. Alejandro took it upon themselves to create this film. It's ironic how Spain welcomed him after this film was released because they saw it as showing Christian qualities, when in reality, this is an acerbic satire on the catholic church and its ministers.

Francisco Rabal, the Spanish actor, makes a wonderful Nazarin. This was one of his best roles. Mr. Rabal worked extensively in his native country, but also in Mexico and Argentina. Rita Macedo, as Andara, is also excellent. Marga Lopez also makes a valuable contribution with her portrayal of Beatriz.

A great film by one of the cinema's master film makers: Luis Bunuel.