Drama
Mexican
1959 · Directed by Luis Buñuel · 95 min
In late nineteenth-century Mexico, a poor parish priest tries to live by the Gospel to the letter, owning nothing and accepting only what charity offers. Buñuel films his quest in a dry, clear, unsentimental style, with no piety and no easy mockery.
Why it matters in cinema history
A defining work of Buñuel's Mexican exile and a key step in his late-career return to the centre of world cinema, it is also one of the great cinematic studies of religious belief.
Watch with intention
Watch the film as a test of one idea, literal Christian charity, and notice how carefully Buñuel avoids telling you what to think of it.
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