Simon of the Desert

Simon of the Desert Spanish Simn del desierto is a 1965 film directed by Luis Buuel. It is loosely based on the story of the ascetic 5thcentury Syrian saint Simeon Stylites, who lived foryears on top of a column.

Simn, the son of Simeon Stylites, has lived foryears,weeks anddays atop an eightmeter pillar in the middle of the desert, praying for spiritual purification. A congregation of priests and peasants salute him and offer him a brand new pillar to stand on and carry on his mission. He comes down from the pillar and is offered the priesthood, but refuses because he considers himself unworthy, and forsakes his aging mother for the love of God before climbing up his new pillar. He heals an amputee missing both hands, whose first use of them is to slap his child. But the congregation quickly departs unimpressed, leaving Simn alone.Time goes by and Simn meets a number of regular characters a handsome priest whom he condemns on grounds of vanity, a dwarf herder and his mother, who comes to live close to him but remains neglected of his attention. A woman Silvia Pinal, Satan, visits him three times first as an innocent girl chanting curses in Latin, second disguised as Jesus. She constantly tries to make Simn give up his task and climb down from the pillar, but he refuses every time. She even possesses one of the priests that visit him, who is consequently exorcised by the other priests. ........

Source: Wikipedia