Simon of the Desert

Director: Luis Buñuel
Year Released: 1965
Rating: 3.0

A mystic who stands on a pillar and prays to God is, like Jesus, tempted by the Devil - played by a woman! (Silvia Pinal) - three times; by the third time, she liberates him via airplane and they end up in a dance club with a bunch of twenty-year-olds! Anything longer than the forty-five minute running time might have been pushing it, but like Un Chien Andalou, it's short, snappy and to the point: the desire for isolation and spiritual salvation is impossible in a time of such open hedonism.