In its celebration of the centennial of cinema in 1995, the Pontifical Council for Social Communications included Nazarin-a bold choice-among the 15 films in world cinema praised for their religious values. Even though he renounced Catholicism, it remained the hinge of his life and work.Īnticlerical and blasphemous in a Spanish way, Bunuel used to joke: “I’m an atheist, thank God.” But some of his later works seem to affirm Him by showing the failures of Christian figures, as in Nazarin (1959), Viridiana (1961), and Simon of the Desert ( Simon del Desierto, 1965), or in discussing in an original way the dogmas of the Catholic Church, notably The Milky Way ( La Voie Lacta, 1969). Also, in his life and films, Bunuel never stopped wrestling with God and lashing at the Catholic Church. The work of this Spanish director-32 films in 50 years-marks one of the most provocative uses of cinema to effect a mordant critique of social mores and conventions. These two scenes-aiming at the jugular of the spectator-open in 1928 and close in 1977 the film career of Luis Bunuel, iconoclast supreme. “ A religious education and surrealism have marked me for life.” ~Luis BunuelĪ man sharpens a razor and slits the eyeball of a young woman a bomb, planted by the Revolutionary Army of the Infant Jesus, explodes in Paris.
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