Luis Buñuel's biting jab at the futility of asceticism and repentence is a surreal fable in his inimitable style. Simon, a 5th-century ascetic, stands on a pillar in the middle of the desert for three decades in a worthless quest to achieve enlightenment. Satan, in a variety of disguises, futilely tries to tempt him to descend from his post. And finally one of these embodiments -- an alluring blonde -- gets so disgusted and bored with his endless babbling that she forcibly and irreverently dumps him into a Manhattan discotheque.