"Simón del Desierto:" Luis Buñuel was Ahead of His Time
I want to talk about the short film "Simon of the Desert" (or, Simón del Desierto as it's titled in Spanish). I want to give a brief background of the film, including the plan for the project versus the finished product, and then I want to analyze the main themes. YouTube has allowed an upload of the film if you'd like to view it. All of the opinions in this post are my own. Spoilers ahead. Let's Get Into the Background. According to Mexican actor Silvia Pinal who features as one of the two main leads, the film began as a project meant to have three parts, each handled by a different director. One part would be directed by Gustavo Alatriste (Pinal's husband at the time, and who ended up as the film's producer), the other by Luis Buñuel and the third by another. Federico Fellini and Jules Dassin were in talks to take on the third part, and both of these directors were already known for -- like Buñuel -- incorporating controversial themes of politics and re...