Simon of the Desert (1965)
★★½ — Simon of the Desert (1965)
There's a moment in Simon of the Desert where the devil appears dressed as a schoolgirl, taunting a man who has voluntarily stood on a pillar in the middle of nowhere for years in devotion to God. It's absurd, obviously. But it's also genuinely funny, and that's what sets this one apart in Luis Buñuel's filmography. For once, the joke lands cleanly.
At just 45 minutes, this is probably the most accessible way into Buñuel's surrealist work. I've spent time with L'Âge d'or, which is a far stranger and more opaque piece of provocation, and while I find that film fascinating in its way, it keeps you at arm's length. Simon of the Desert is warmer than that. The wit is drier, the symbolism sits closer to the surface, and the satirical target, performative religious piety and the absurdity of self-mortification as a spiritual practice, is clear from the first frame. You don't need a film studies degree to follow what Buñuel is doing here. You just need a passing familiarity with human hypocrisy, which most of us have in abundance.
Claudio Brook plays Simón, the ascetic saint perched atop his desert pillar, and he carries the film with a kind of weary, rigid dignity that makes the whole thing work. He's devout to the point of comedy, which is precisely the point. But it's Silvia Pinal as the devil who steals every scene she's in, cycling through disguises with mischievous glee, each one more provocative than the last. She's having an enormous amount of fun, and it's infectious. The film around her is brisk and inventive, the imagery striking without being self-indulgent, and there's a playfulness to how Simón's faith is tested. Not with grand theological crisis, but with bureaucratic farce and petty human weakness. Buñuel finds the comedy in devotion without ever being cruel about it, which is a harder balance to strike than it looks.
What makes it work, more than anything, is the restraint. Buñuel keeps it moving. Every scene earns its place. The symbolism lands with clarity rather than obscuring itself behind layers of provocation. This is a filmmaker in full control of his material, and for most of the runtime, the surrealism genuinely serves the satire rather than existing purely to unsettle or alienate. If you've been curious about Buñuel but bounced off something like Un Chien Andalou feeling bewildered and cold, this is a much gentler point of entry.
And then the ending happens.
Without warning or ceremony, we're yanked out of the desert and dropped into a 1960s nightclub, where a rock number plays and the film essentially shrugs and walks out the door. I understand what Buñuel is going for. The modern world as its own kind of hell, temptation repackaged for a new era, all of that. But understanding the intent doesn't make it satisfying. It feels less like a punchline and more like a provocation for its own sake, the kind of move that substitutes smugness for genuine insight. The careful, controlled wit of everything that came before is undercut by a finale that seems more interested in startling the audience than in saying anything particularly sharp. It reminded me of why Buñuel's work so often sits in that uncomfortable space between admiration and frustration. When it clicks, as it largely does in The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, the result is something genuinely brilliant. Here, he gets 90 percent of the way there and then stumbles at the finish line.
Still, witty, visually inventive, and surprisingly engaging for a film about a man standing very still on a column. It's a rare Buñuel that almost wins you over completely, right up until it decides it would rather not.
Three stars.
Rating: ★★½ | Year: 1965 | Watched: 2026-03-15
Where to watch
Watch in the UK
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Related on Movies With Macca
More from Luis Buñuel: Land Without Bread (1933) · L'Âge d'or (1930) · The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972) · Un Chien Andalou (1929)
More from Mexico: Nightmare City (1980) · Violet Perfume: Nobody Hears You (2001) · Babel (2006) · Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)
More from the 1960s: Viy (1967) · Persona (1966) · Carnival of Souls (1962) · Daisies (1966)
More comedy: The Eagle (1925) · The General (1926) · Americana (2023) · The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)
More drama: Viy (1967) · Wonder (2017) · A Better Tomorrow (1986) · Beautiful Boy (2018)
