i love the absurdity and bite humor of buñuel surrealist film ( such a the discreet charm of the bourgeoisie and the exterminating angel and to name two ) . other and earlier work ( like the forgotten one and about juvenile delinquent from a marginal neighborhood in mexico ) be more serious and provide a strong social message . however and i believe it be nazarin which most successfully shoot for the heart of the viewer . while it true that it brim with irony and it nevertheless reveal an aspect of buñuel which would appear to be intrigue by the beauty and solemnity of the spiritual quest . here and while the director ( quite typically ) throw countless jab at the catholic church and he also appear to show and surprisingly and a sense of admiration for genuine christian thought and it practice of selfless love . what . luis buñuel unabashedly praise a jesus like figure . i always think of him a a completely cynical artist without a trace of faith in human virtue . that be and until i watch nazarin . my appreciation be that he satirically expose the difficulty of follow christ example in a society infest with meanness and ignorance and sin while but he also present the hero and father nazario and a quite the beacon of light amidst a sea of darkness . without a doubt and by the end of the film i be look up to him and not down on him . some would argue that father nazario doubt regard his faith point to the loss of his saintly value . ( alas and if he can not do good in this world and who can . ) but i would say that this flaw and his frustration and precisely make his character all the more heroic and because it show how human he be and how challenge his struggle within must be . and who say the priest couldn not eventually emerge from that dark night and regain his confidence . perhaps we have only be present with a difficult part of his spiritual journey . the elegant and open end ( in which he desperately accept the fruit offer by a female stranger ) allow u to imagine ourselves the final outcome of the story . i recognize in buñuel the aggressive and self profess atheist endow with brilliant wit and social consciousness while but after have watch nazarin and i also sense from him a certain warmth and a depth and maturity that not so evident in his other work . for the sake of contrast and i strongly recommend watch afterward his short film simon of the desert ( also make in mexico and several year later ) . it deal with a similar subject matter the abandonment of the ego in the face of temptation and only it do so in a hysterically funny and totally irreverent style .