Luis Buñuel: Aesthetics of the Irrational: Simon of the Desert + Un Cinéaste de Notre Temps

Un Cinéaste de Notre Temps

Produced by André S. Labarthe and Janine Bazin, this short portrait represents the first in a long and successful documentary series dedicated to the key filmmakers of the time. Directed by Robert Valey, this episode captures Buñuel’s essential character; from his friends and the man himself we learn the underlying drives that course through the filmmaker’s vast filmography. A theatrical screening of this work is a rare opportunity to experience Buñuel’s inimitable personality first hand.

Un Cinéaste de Notre Temps, dir. Robert Valey, France 1963, 38 mins.

Simon of the Desert

After six years on top of a column 20 meters-high near Aleppo in Syria, a monk, Simone, is transported from the 5th to the 20th century and left in a nightclub in New York.

Simon of the Desert turned out to be a short and unfinished film production but nonetheless sums up most of the Buñuel qualities. It is a fantastic and grotesque piece of cinema. The metamorphosis of the Devil (or better said, the disguises of Silvia Pinal)—a character of explicit and charged blasphemy—are in essence the real novelty here. The film was not completed because of disagreements with the film producer Gustavo Alatriste. Alatriste then tried to finish the project pitching it to different filmmakers such as Kawalerowicz, Rocha, Truffaut, Bellocchio, Kubrick. They all refused. Despite being an unfinished film, Simon of the Desert went on to win the Silver Lion and the FIPRESCI prize in Venice.

Simon of the Desert, dir. Luis Buñuel, Mexico 1965, 42 mins.

Multi-buy Offer

£8 tickets when you buy tickets for 4-7 screenings
£7 tickets when you buy tickets for 8-16 screenings

Education group rate tickets are available at £5 for students with one free educator for every ten tickets booked. These can be purchased by contacting the box office direct on 0207 930 0493 (Tues-Sun 9am-11pm).

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