Nazarin is very straightforward film for Bunuel . We don’t see a lot of his surrealist tricks here. Nazarin (the priest) lives among whores , thieves and beggars in a Mexican town during the early 1900s. Though his neighbors steal from him , Nazarin refuses to lock his door. He is an Apostolic and Roman Catholic so he believes that ” everything belongs to the one who needs it most “. “Nazarín is motivated by his beliefs, his ideology. What moves me is what happens when his ideology fails, because whenever Nazarín gets involved, even in the best of faith, he only begets conflicts and disasters,” says Buñuel of his protagonist.
Bunuel seems to ask a very obvious question here : is there a place for pure Christianity in a modern world? Nazarin would say that his ideology is more important than ever yet his continued rejection suggests that the world is as unready for him now as they were for Jesus in his time. Interestingly Nazarin neither preaches his gospel nor does he wish to convert anyone in particular. Bunuel tells the story in a manner of a Christian parable masterfully and uniquely combining admiration and irony for the main character and strong criticism of formal religion and hypocrisy. The film is simple and profound as well as beautiful and ironic.
debarshithecinemaniac 