Review of Nazarín (1959) by Rafæl M — 19 Jan 2010

For every eye getting sliced in half, every re-enactment of the last supper, every dinner party being interrupted by the military and for every Pope getting thrown out of a window, it's easy to forget what a humanist Bunuel was. It may be far removed from the surrealism of the other films he made while on exile in Mexico, but "Nazarin" is possibly his best film.

Father Nazario (the excellent Bunuel regular Francisco Rabal) attempts to live his life as close to the principles of religion as possible. After being cast out of society for giving refuge to a prostitute and an outcast, he trades in his priestly clothes for peasant rags and begins a faux-pilgrimage through land, attempting to help anyone who wants the help of God, but society consistently refuses the help of God and Father Nazario, causing him to question his own beliefs up until the ambiguous ending where it's unknown whether he has forsaken his religious beliefs or not.

For a man who famously claimed "I thank God I'm an atheist", Bunuel doesn't openly disregard Religion in "Nazarin", he believes that society is too corrupt to openly accept God & Father Nazario into their lives in this story of one man's struggle to keep his faith when all around him have forsaken their God. It's a terrific character study which never forces the issue, a damning social commentary and a wonderful examination of faith.