Nazarin

The Vatican ranked this as one of the 15 greatest films ever made on the topic of religion. In fact, this could be Luis Bunuel's most tender and poignant film. It shares more in common with the Italian neo-realists or even Carl Dreyer's films than the surrealist farce that Bunuel has become associated with. It tells the story of a simple, Mexican priest who lives with the people to help the people. After his home is burned he hits the road and begins journeying from poor Mexican village to poor Mexican village. Through is travels inadvertantly, in many ways, he begins to mirror the life of Christ (I suppose it's no coincidence that his name is Father Nazario), though he only has two people following him and they seem less interested in listening to what he has to say than in idolizing him. He is treated with disdain and ultimately arrested. It's a very Catholic film and the characters are treated with dignity and respect. The interesting thing, however, is that this film seems to be as much a cross-examination of faith as a defense of it. The priest is a good man -- upright, and in many ways a model of Christian virtue. At one point, while he is in jail, a prisoner is speaking to him and says something to the effect of, "You're good and I'm bad, but in the end what good does it do?" This hits home with the priest. It's the Ecclesiastes argument that good people die just the same as bad people -- it's all meaningless. It's true though, throughout the film, as good a man as the priest is, he has no impact on anyone or anything. The argument is made not through cheap trickery and insults of Christians/Christianity, but by showing that a good man with faith doesn't make a difference. It's a fascinating method of argumentation, but I can't deny that despite what may well be its attempt to discredit faith, it has affirmed it. It is poignant almost despite itself.