Nazarin - Luis Bunuel (w/ English subtitles) by Luis Buñuel, starring Francisco Rabal, Marga López: DVDNear.com

Nazarin - Luis Bunuel (w/ English subtitles)

Nazarin - Luis Bunuel (w/ English subtitles)
by Luis Buñuel

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DVD Cover Information

Actor: Francisco Rabal, Marga López
Director: Luis Buñuel
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: Spanish (Unknown); English (Subtitled); Portuguese (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); Spanish (Original Language)
Format: Full Screen, Import, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 95 unknown-units
Published: 1958
Studio: Continental

Movie Reviews of Nazarin - Luis Bunuel (w/ English subtitles)

Movie Review: An essential piece in the Buñuel puzzle
Summary: 5 Stars

I love the absurdity and biting humor of Buñuel's surrealist films (such as "The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie" or "The Exterminating Angel", to name two). Other, earlier works (like "The Forgotten Ones", about juvenile delinquents from a marginal neighborhood in Mexico) are more serious and provide a strong social message.

However, I believe it is "Nazarin" which most successfully shoots for the heart of the viewer. While it's true that it's brimming with irony, it nevertheless reveals a side of Buñuel that would appear to be intrigued by the solemnity of the spiritual quest. Here, while the director (quite typically) throws countless jabs at the Catholic Church, he also appears to show, surprisingly, a sense of admiration for genuine Christian thought and its practice of selfless love.

What?? Luis Buñuel praising a Jesus-like figure?? I always thought of him as a completely cynical artist without a trace of faith in human virtue... that is, until I watched "Nazarin". My appreciation is that he satirically exposes the difficulty of following Christ's example in a society infested with meanness, ignorance and sin; but he also presents the hero, Father Nazario, as quite the beacon of light amidst a sea of darkness. Without a doubt, by the end of the film I was looking up to him and not down on him.

Some would argue that Father Nazario's doubts regarding his faith point to the loss of his saintly values. (Alas, if he can't do good in this world, who can?) But I would say that this 'flaw', his frustration, precisely makes his character all the more heroic, because it shows how human he is and how challenging his struggle within must be. And who says the priest wouldn't eventually emerge from that 'dark night' and regain his confidence? Perhaps we've only been presented with a difficult part of his spiritual journey.

I recognize in Buñuel the aggressive, self-professed atheist endowed with brilliant wit and social awareness; but after having watched "Nazarin", I also sense a certain warmth and maturity that's not so evident in his other work.

For the sake of contrast, I strongly recommend watching his short film "Simon of the Desert" (also made in Mexico, several years later). It deals with a similar subject matter, only it does so in a hysterically funny and totally irreverent style.

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Summary of Nazarin - Luis Bunuel (w/ English subtitles)

Basándose en la novela de Benito Pérez Galdós, Luis Buñuel, el cineasta más importante de habla hispana de su época, narra la historia -ubicada en el México del porfiriato- del humilde cura, Nazarín, actualizando el argumento y dotándolo de una gran fuerza dramática (una vez que los problemas manchegos de la novela, son trasplantados al universo mexicano). Interpretado por Francisco Rabal, el religioso vive y comparte su pobreza con los necesitados que viven cerca del mesón de Chanfa, de donde tiene que huir, luego de proteger a una prostituta que provoca un incendio. En su peregrinar, las acciones de Nazarín provocan una serie de conflictos que se contraponen a la visión de la caridad cristiana.

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