Review of Nazarín (1959) by Edgar C — 09 Mar 2010

So, why are so few films that capture the nature of Jesus Christ accurately? Let's throw away the fact that the Hollywood stamp, false rumors and flat, hipocrytical and inaccurate characters are always present. Also, let's exclude the religious fanatics with a narrow-minded perspective. Buñuel always exalted religion and destroyed the Catholic Church as the monstrous, almost bourgeois human institution it always represented throughout the centuries. Nazarín is shown as a modernist Christ, and through the surreal and experimental, neorealist scope of Buñuel, this testament is innovation in avant-garde storytelling. It's a more conventional film by this giant auteur, but words won't suffice for describing the genius, accuracy and originality of divinity and faith seen through the eyes of a vulnerable man, featuring one of the most grandiose catharsis ever put to celluloid.

99/100.