Simon of the Desert

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Simon of the Desert

1965 ‘Simón del desierto’ Directed by Luis Buñuel

Sacrifice and Temptation

Simon, a deeply religious man living in the 4th century, wants to be nearer to God so he climbs a column. The Devil wants him come down to Earth and is trying to seduce him.

Claudio Brook Silvia Pinal Hortensia Santoveña Enrique Álvarez Félix Francisco Reiguera Luis Aceves Castañeda Antonio Bravo Enrique del Castillo Enrique Garcia Alvarez Eduardo MacGregor Jesús Fernández Glauber Rocha

Alternative Title

Simon pelarhelgonet

drama history comedy

45 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Edgar Cochran ★★★★½ 17

Robert Beksinski's #8 Film Selection for Edgar
Loosely based on the real story Saint Simeon Stylites, a 5th Century Syriac ascetic saint who achieved fame for living 37 years on a small platform on top of a pillar near Aleppo in Syria, Buñuel's Simón del Desierto has been a film long-discussed regarding its possible implications and allegorical conclusion when, in fact, Buñuel ran out of funds and was forced to end the film abruptly. It does feel butchered regarding the scope of his intentions.
It has been written that "an abrupt, ill-suited ending suggests that Buñuel either tired of the subject and wanted to move on to other things, or that he ran out of money and had to wrap…
Review by Michael Strenski ★★★★½

Get thee on the dance floor, Satan.
Review by nathaxnne (hiatus due to injury) ★★★ 7

Simon is a dirty beatnik who hangs out on top of a tower until the super-nice townsfolk who didn't know what to get him for a present get him an even taller tower to further inflame his vanity, which he is totally about. Simon is kind of a jerk and only digs laying heavy judgements on locals and not hanging out with his mom who totally wants to hang out with him. Also Foxy Satan wants to hang out with Simon but he only has eyes for Jesus Christ who is not in this movie, so it is a typical unrequited love triangle where everyone is sad because they don't want what they think they want. Simon is a total…
Review by ScreeningNotes ★★★★ 4

Simon of the Desert is a satirical abstract art film about religion, and as you might expect coming from the enigmatic surrealist director Luis Buñuel, there's a lot of dense material here that's difficult to unpack in a single viewing. The script is filled with theological dialogue, and the frame often offers heavily ambiguous imagery (e.g. the camera cuts from a shot of priests praying to a shot of an old woman covering anthills with sand), so to say this this is a challenging or difficult film would be an understatement. If you can get into it, however, there's plenty of ironic comedy and beautiful cinematography to keep it entertaining and prevent it from getting bogged down in thick ecclesiastical…
Review by Monday Seagull 2

Terribly funny and wonderfully short. If more films were this brief I’d be much happier.
Perhaps I’ll say a prayer. Perhaps I’ll ask for God’s assistance. Maybe I’ll walk out of theatres at the halfway mark. Whatever it takes.
Review by Rod Sedgwick ★★★★ 2

Simon: ''What's this dance called?''
The Devil: "Radioactive Flesh." It's the latest - and the last!''
The more of Luis Bunuel’s work I watch the more cheeky I find him to be, in fact he may be the ultimate provocateur. While much of his work takes short sharp stabs at class structures and bourgeois codes, equally it openly targets organised religion in particular the hypocrisy of Catholicism - ripe pickings indeed for a proclaimed atheist. Whilst not a lengthy film at only 45 minutes, Simon of the Desert is a fine example of the surreal and the satirical in all its glory, delivered economically.
The plot quite simply involves a deeply religious man named Simon in the 4th century residing…
Review by Willem (Leo) van der Zanden ★★★★

Me, an introvert: I always had a feeling hell would be something like a crowded nightclub filled with people dancing a dance called "radioactive flesh"
Review by Geoffrey Broomer ★★★★★

Right down to the damnation represented by the dance floor of a packed nightclub, Simeon Stylites is the saint that this isolation needs.
Review by Justin Peterson ★★★★ 2

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

Criterion Collection Spine #460
(Foreign language film)
If I would have looked more closely at the poster, I may have spoiled that crazy twist ending for myself. Since I have been a Luis Buñuel kick lately I decided to check out his only 45 minute long film Simon of the Desert.
I really enjoyed this religious tale of a man that is giving penitence to God by standing on a column out in the desert and fasting. It reminded me a lot of 'The Last Temptation of Christ', and 'Monty Python's Life of Brian' but much more subtle on the satire/humour.
I actually really enjoyed the religious themes which I thought were mostly sincere. I suppose it is the reactions…
Review by Perry R 💀 ★★★½

There's never been a horny me
And never shall I horny be
And if this sacred vow I break
I pray the lord my pillar to take
Review by Victor Cannell ★★★★ 1

A beautifully shot and wonderfully surreal film that densely tackles lots of ideas of religion, spirituality, and humanity. The difficulty in reaching God due to the weight of limited human, sensual, materiel form. Or, the impossibility of reaching a nonexistent God, giving Simon’s devotion an equally tragic and comedic streak. Blasphemous and false sense of authority and self-importance in religious leaders. Being a product of your environment. Tonssssss to unpack and think about here. Its a shame its only 45 minutes, but its impressive how much it explores in its short runtime.
87%
*****SPOILERS*******
Somehow, even though I have seen the poster a thousand times, that awesome ending thankfully caught me by complete surprise. I don't know how that happened, but that being said, I wish it wasn't on the poster as it so easily can spoil the surprising and sudden anachronism.
Review by Willow Maclay ★★★★

tag yrself
I'm the devil as a little girl who has a hula hoop.

Recent reviews

Review by bandsaboutmovie ★★★½

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

This film is based on the life of ascetic 5th-century Syrian saint Simeon Stylites, who lived for nearly 40 years on top of a column. It was directed by Luis Buñuel after he had to take his second exile in Mexico, as his movies were lambasted by the government and the Vatican.
Along with Viridiana and The Exterminating Angel, these movies form a trilogy of films that are critical of religion and star Silvia Pinal and Claudio Brook.
Simón has lived for 6 years, 6 weeks and 6 days in the midst of the desert atop a pillar, praying for spiritual purification. Then, an assemblage of priests and townspeople offers him a new pillar and a chance at priesthood. He…
Review by Olive Parker ★★★★

can’t pretend i wasn’t wishing that fellini had made this instead
Review by FilmHarmonic ★★★★

+Great religious imagery and surreal situations
+Great camera work
+Awesome use of characters
+Unexpected ending
+Silvia Panal is very tempting
-Maybe a full length movie or the original concept of having Fellini direct parts of it would be epic!
A must-see for Bunuel and surreal fanatics. Some very memorable scenes that stick with you a great short film! I really liked it!
88/100
Review by Devan M. Meyer ★★★★½

I don’t mean to be controversial but SILVIA PINAL IS A QUEEN AND I WOULD STEP OFF THAT PEDESTAL FOR HER ANY DAY OF THE WEEK😍👸🤩
Review by Carmen Walker-Vazquez ★★★★

buñuel really said medieval hagiography, but make it sexy
Review by Adam ★★★½

A nice little taste of Bunuel’s Mexican period. I like the woman who plays the devil, she did a great job of clashing with Simon’s devotion. Bunuel has some sort of obsession with ants and insects, weirdo. The ending took me by surprise but it worked well to end the short somewhere. A good example of experimental film working out to be easily digestible. Wish it could’ve been a feature.
Review by lIIlIlIIlIlllIl ★★★★

stylite (n.)
ascetic living on the top of a pillar, 1630s, from Ecclesiastical Greek stylites, from stylos "pillar," from PIE root *sta- "to stand, make or be firm."
boxd.it/4HaXK (Happiness Is A Warm Nun or Too Much Monky Business or The World is Your Cloister: Monks, Nuns, Sisters, Brothers, Asceticism, Orders, Monasticism)
Review by redDirt ★★★★

bunuel you devil. Like Milky Way, this is a riotously good time. Despite mostly-sophomoric commentary, Buñuel gets Christianity (and religion in general, and politics, and...) better than a lot of folks. What a riot.
Review by Dan Diaz ★★★★

my purgatory would be a crowded, loud nightclub.
Review by Bill Scurry ★★★★★

This is the Bunuel I could watch hours and hours of, the Catholic critic and social satirist with knife-sharp filmmaking instincts. He was inspired by an ancient Syrian who received a vision and decided to sit atop a pillar to be closer to god, and was thus revered by the people of his small village. This is shot in Mexico using local actors, so it has a slightly different meaning -- but the effect is still the same. Like "The Exterminating Angel," Bunuel's comic instincts find a home alongside traditional imagery, making the faithful man look to be a bit of a simple fool. The ragged pilgrim is beguiled by a gorgeously zaftig vixen, the devil in disguise, and her final gambit needs to be seen to be believed. Every moment of this 45-minute feature is golden.
Review by Euanc ★★★★★

simon had probably the most graphics ever
that ending was awesome
thank you luis
when Simon heals a previously hand-less man and the first thing he does with his new hands is beat his kid
Review by Julia ★★★★

Rogar conmigo pero en silencio. Cortita y al pie

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