This ribald, absurdist satire follows two modern-day French vagrants, Jean (Terzieff) and Pierre (Frankeur), on their pilgrimage to the holy city of Santiago de Compostela in Spain. Somehow, on the long road to Saint James’s resting place, the guileless beggars travel through various time periods, encountering a variety of characters — including Jesus, the Marquis de Sade (Piccoli), clerics of the Inquisition — as well as Church heretics.

Working with his frequent scriptwriter Jean-Claude Carrière, Spanish surrealist Buñuel drew on actual religious sources for this unconventional road movie, which explores serious questions about faith and obedience to Christian dogma within an episodic framework that brings to mind classics like “Don Quixote” and “The Canterbury Tales.” Not all of it makes logical sense (Buñuel is too playful for that), but the blend of adventure fable and ecumenical debate leads Buñuel to stage some of his most inspired bits of irreverent critique.