Simon of the Desert – THE CRITERION COLLECTION #460 (a J!-ENT DVD Review)

November 21, 2009 by Dennis Amith

Definitely one of Luis Buñuel’s most interesting and hilarious work (that was never fully completed). Overall, this DVD is definitely a solid release which includes along with the film, a near-hour documentary, interview with actress Silvia Pinal and an awesome essay/interview booklet. In addition, “Simon of the Desert” is also one of Criterion’s cheaper DVD releases. Definitely recommended!

TITLE: Simon of the Desert – THE CRITERION COLLECTION #460

DURATION: 45 Minutes

DVD INFORMATION: Black and White, Monaural in Spanish with English subtitles, 1:33:1 Aspect Ratio

COMPANY: The Criterion Collection/Janus Films

RELEASED: 2008

Directed by Luis Buñuel

Written by Julio Alejandro and Luis Buñuel

Produced by Gustavo Alatriste

Music by Raul Lavista

Cinematography by Gabriel Figueroa

Edited by Carlos Savage

Starring:

Claudio Brook as Simon

Silvia Pinal as Satan

Enrqiue Alvarez Felix as Brother Matias

Hortensia Santoveña as The Motther

Luis Aceves Castañeda as Priest

Jesus Fernandez as Dwarf Goatherd

Simon of the Desert is Luis Buñuel’s wicked and wild take on the life of devoted ascetic Saint Simeon Stylites, who waited atop a pillar surrounded by a barren landscape for six years, six months, and six days, in order to prove his devotion to God. Yet the devil, in the figure of the beautiful Silvia Pinal, huddles below, trying to tempt him down. A skeptic’s vision of human conviction, Buñuel’s short and sweet satire is one of the master filmmaker’s most renowned works of surrealism.

Luis Buñuel, the world renown Spanish director who had a successful career in Mexico and France is known for films such as “Belle de Jour”, “Viridiana”, “Nazarin”, “El angel exterminador” (a.k.a. The Exterminating Angel) to name a few. But what Buñuel is known for was his quickness of his filmmaking and ability to transcend from working in Mexican and French cinema, but also his dark humor and the fact that he is an atheist and is critical of religion.

One film that he uses religion to showcase his critical view to religion was the 1965 film “Simon of the Desert” which was the third film starring actress Silvia Pinal (“Viridiana”, “The Exterminating Angel”) and Claudio Brook. And produced by Gustavo Alatriste, husband of Pinal.

“Simon of the Desert” is a dark comedy parodying Saint Simeon Stylites, the Christian ascetic saint who lived for 37 years on top of a platform in Syria.

In the film, Simon (played by Claudio Brook) has been living on top of the platform for six years, six months and six days. Simon prays for God to spiritually purify him and it has become his mission to stay on top of the platform giving his life to God. A congregation of priests are proud of what Simon had accomplish that they have built him a larger platform for which he can live, while supplying him with water and lettuce (which he prefers to only eat). Simon’s mother has also taken refuge near the base of the platform in order to be there for her son.

But Satan (played by Silvia Pinal) will do whatever he can to prevent Simon from accomplishing his mission and making him come down the platform. The devil takes the disguise of a woman who sings and tries to use her body as a way to get him to stop. The devil also uses a disguise of Jesus Christ in order to get him to stop. The devil also possesses one of the priests in order to make Simon look like a fraud in front of the other priests.

But who will win in the end…Simon or Satan?

VIDEO & AUDIO:

“Simon in the Desert” is presented in black and white (1:33:1 aspect ratio). According to The Criterion Collection, the picture has been slightly windowboxed to ensure that the maximum image is visible on all monitors. Picture quality is actually very good for a film created back in 1965. Blacks are nice and deep and Criterion gave the film a solid high-definition transfer. The transfer was created on a Spirit Datacine from a 35mm duplicate negative and thousands of instances of dirt, debris and scratches were removed using the MTI Digital Restoration system.

I personally didn’t see any major artifacting and the scratches and dust are so minimal that Criterion did a fantastic job on the video transfer.

As for the audio, audio is presented in mono. According to Criterion, the soundtrack was mastered at 24-Bit from the 35mm optical soundtrack negative. Pops, crackle, hiss and hum were reduced with an array of audio restoration techniques.

Subtitles are in English.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Simon of the Desert” comes with the following special features:

A Mexican Buñuel - (55:41) A 1997 documentary produced by Emilio Maillé. Maillé goes into detail of the life of Luis Buñuel as he lived in the United States and then moving to Mexico and eventually the filming of “Simon of the Desert” and a tribute made for him.
Silvia Pinal - (6:39) An interview with Silvia Pinal recorded in Mexico City in January 2006 exclusively for the Criterion Collection. The actress talks about her working relationship with Luis Buñuel and working on this film.
28-Page Booklet – Featuring an essay by Michael Wood titled “Damned if you do…” about “Simon in the Desert” plus an interview excerpted from “Objects of Desire: Conversations with Luis Buñuel, a compilation of interviews conducted by film critics Jose de la Colina and Tomas Perez between 1975 and 1977.

“Simon of the Desert” is a film that features very good cinematography. May it be from a far distance as you can see Simon standing on the high platform (yes, they actually created an actual stone platform that is still in the field today and can’t be removed because it’s so heavy) or closeups of the character’s face. Criterion’s transfer is quite solid as you see the detail of Simon’s hair waving in the distance and Buñuel was good in capturing just a little of Pinal’s sexiness and not overdoing the temptation bit.

I have no doubt that this film was probably considered blasphemous at the time, in fact, Buñuel’s first film with Pinal “Viridiana” riled up the Vatican that he had to seek exile in Mexico. But that was part of Buñuel’s perspective on religion. He was an atheist at heart and took liberty of poking fun on Christianity. Why would a man give up his whole life for a God that is really not doing anything? I suppose Buñuel looked at Simon’s worship as a waste of time and a waste of life and if anything, Buñuel was known to have debates and conversations with priests who were his friends on the subject of religion.

If there was one scene that stays in my mind, it’s a scene where a family begs for Simon to ask God for his help. A man who was caught stealing had his hands cut off and the family begs forgiveness and sure enough, after prayer, the man receives his hands. And the first thing the man does after leaving is swatting his kid right in the head.

Aside from Buñuel’s athiest view on religion, probably the most jarring part about the the film is that it would never be fully completed as producer Alatriste was unable to financially support the making of the film as the golden age of Mexico has come to its end. So, in order to have some finality with the film, Buñuel came up with an ending which may or may not leave viewers satisfied but both Buñuel and Pinal have been vocal that they wished the film could have been fully completed and that the ending would have been different.

So, at 45-minutes long, “Simon of the Desert” is a low-tier Criterion release of an uncompleted film. But do not let that deter you from this purchase because the film is still quite entertaining and I actually found it quite fascinating, even to its ending scene that was a bit awkward but at the same time, it was very 1965 and definitely an interesting moment of the film that just sticks out. I found it to be quite fun although I really would love to know how Buñuel would have ended the film?

Overall, this is a solid release and for the lower-tier Criterion titles, this one comes with worthy special features and insightful and informative booklet. You really get a bang for your buck as the special features and the accompanying 28-page booklet along with the film is well worth the price (especially when this DVD is on sale which I picked up for under $13).

If you are a Luis Buñuel fan or wanting a Criterion title that is low in price but yet big enough in content, “Simon of the Desert” is definitely worth having in your Criterion collection. Recommended!