Nazarín (1959)

Director:

Luis Buñuel

Writers:

Julio Alejandro (writer)
Luis Buñuel (writer)

Release Date:

20 June 1968 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Nazarin is a priest, attempting to living a pure and honest life strictly according to Christian principles...

Plot Keywords:

Christian | Priest | Prostitute | Hatred | Fire

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Francisco Rabal	...	Father Nazario
Marga López	...	Beatriz
Rita Macedo	...	Andara
Jesús Fernández	...	Ujo
Ignacio López Tarso	...	Thief in church
Luis Aceves Castañeda	...	Parricide
Ofelia Guilmáin	...	Chanfa
Noé Murayama	...	Pinto
Rosenda Monteros	...	Prieta
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Victorio Blanco	...	Old prisoner
Arturo Castro	...	Colonel
José Chávez	...	Construction site manager (as José Chávez 'Trowe')
Cecilia Leger	...	Woman with pineapple
Ignacio Peón	...	Priest
Ramón Sánchez

Also Known As:

Nazarin (USA)

Runtime:

USA:94 min

Country:

Mexico

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:15 | Finland:K-11 (new rating 2001) | Finland:K-12 (1991) | France:U | Finland:K-16 (1966)

Filming Locations:

Cuaútla, Morelos, Mexico

Company:

Producciones Barbachano Ponce

Trivia:

Selected for the Acapulco Film festival (1959).

Quotes:

Don Angel - the priest: Now they're saying you had a scandalous, dishonest and dirty relationship with that woman.
Father Nazario: Slander. Plain slander.
Don Angel - the priest: l know you wouldn't dare. Besides, if you were to succumb to such a demon it wouldn't be with that ugly creature.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Usher (2004)

Soundtrack:

Dios nunca muere

Religion Don Quixote

Nazarin is some kind of saint,he wants to live in life exactly how Christ taught man to do.But it's too late:now the Catholic Church is between the hands of a wealthy bourgeoisie,the bishops live in luxury and don't give a damn about the poor and the sick.That's why our hero can't follow the way his hierarchy asks him to follow.So he divests himself of everything,and on his way to purity,he's joined by some kind of Mary Magdelene and a woman who's attracted by him sexually (the scene between this girl and her fiancé is telling).In Spain (it was the late fifties),they thought Nazarin was a Christian movie!Knowing Luis Bunuel,it was downright incongruous:all his work is anticlerical to a fault.Comparing Nazarin and his "holy women" to Jesus is a nonsense.On Nazarin's way,only brambles and couch grass grow.His attempt at helping working men on the road is a failure,he's chased out as a strike-breaker.All his words amount to nothing.At the end of the journey,he's arrested and offered a pineapple by a woman(Bunuelian sexual symbol). Thanks to "Nazarin" ,Bunuel was allowed to return to Spain (where the censors had not got a clue ) and to direct "Viridiana".