(Buñuel's) surrealist imagination could never concoct anything as flat-out goofy as Catholic dogma itself.
While Buñuel´s approach is certainly satirical, there is a horror at the very core of all these absurdist proclamations. People really have been taken prisoner, tortured and killed by orthodox powers because they believe God is One, and not a trinity, or that Christ was not simultaneously fully human and fully divine. "Die, heretic scum!" One of the most prominent figures in the film is Priscillian, the 4th century man who earned the dubious honor of being the first person ever executed by the Church for heresy. In the end of the film, Santiago de Compostela collapses overnight when it is discovered that it is Priscillian´s remains, not St. James´, buried there.
Buñuel also takes a playful and surprisingly respectful approach to the figure of Jesus. Throughout the film, characters wander exactly what Jesus was like. Did he always walk about with his hands stretched out, or did he get out of breath when he ran? When he told all those parables, did he speak like a fire and brimstone preacher or did he try to suppress a laugh like he was cracking a good joke? Surely one can find a set of believers to adopt different answers to each question, form their own heresies, and fight each other to the death over them.
"The Milky Way" occasionally seems a bit too schematic as Buñuel tries his best to toss in every heresy he can think of; sometimes the film feels like an unusually expansive variety show. But the wit is as biting as ever, and as many times as the atheist Buñuel addressed religion in his film, he never hit the mark as closely and as poignantly as here. It´s also damned funny.
Video
The anamorphic transfer is presented in a 1.66:1 aspect ratio. You know the Criterion chorus by now. The image quality is sharp and clean of all but the slightest marks. The colors are ever-so slightly muted, but this is yet another fantastic Criterion product, maybe only a "second-tier" Criterion transfer, but that still makes it better than just about anyone else.
Audio
The DVD is presented in Dolby Digital Mono. Optional English subtitles support the French audio.
Extras
There is, unfortunately, no commentary track. I may just be imagining this, but Criterion seems to be offering fewer commentary tracks lately. Is this because of the survey run by DVDBeaver last year where the #1 choice for "favorite DVD commentary track" was "I don´t listen to commentary tracks?" In any case, there are still some nice extras on this disc.
"Luis Buñuel: Atheist Thanks to God" is a short documentary (32 min.) featuring interviews with screen-writer Jean-Claude Carrière, Buñuel friend Jean Collet and several actors from the film. I liked this one quite a bit, though there´s nothing revelatory here.
The disc also includes interviews with critic Ian Christie (2007, 28 min.) and Jean-Claude Carrière (2000, 6 min.) Christie´s analysis and contextual background about "The Milky Way" is particularly interesting.
The insert booklet features essays by Carlos Fuentes and Mark Polizzotti as well as an interview with Buñuel, compiled from interviews from 1975-1977.
Film Value
Viewed in hindsight, "The Milky Way" heralds the final stage of Buñuel´s long and productive career, paving the way for similarly structured (or, rather, unstructured) narratives relying on sudden discontinuous breaks in logic, an trajectory that perhaps reached its apogee in the brilliantly discordant "The Phantom of Liberty" (1974). Buñuel was 69 when he released "The Milky Way," but he was just entering the freshest and, arguably, the most fertile period of his career.
Buñuel also takes a playful and surprisingly respectful approach to the figure of Jesus. Throughout the film, characters wander exactly what Jesus was like. Did he always walk about with his hands stretched out, or did he get out of breath when he ran? When he told all those parables, did he speak like a fire and brimstone preacher or did he try to suppress a laugh like he was cracking a good joke? Surely one can find a set of believers to adopt different answers to each question, form their own heresies, and fight each other to the death over them.
"The Milky Way" occasionally seems a bit too schematic as Buñuel tries his best to toss in every heresy he can think of; sometimes the film feels like an unusually expansive variety show. But the wit is as biting as ever, and as many times as the atheist Buñuel addressed religion in his film, he never hit the mark as closely and as poignantly as here. It´s also damned funny.
Video
The anamorphic transfer is presented in a 1.66:1 aspect ratio. You know the Criterion chorus by now. The image quality is sharp and clean of all but the slightest marks. The colors are ever-so slightly muted, but this is yet another fantastic Criterion product, maybe only a "second-tier" Criterion transfer, but that still makes it better than just about anyone else.
Audio
The DVD is presented in Dolby Digital Mono. Optional English subtitles support the French audio.
Extras
There is, unfortunately, no commentary track. I may just be imagining this, but Criterion seems to be offering fewer commentary tracks lately. Is this because of the survey run by DVDBeaver last year where the #1 choice for "favorite DVD commentary track" was "I don´t listen to commentary tracks?" In any case, there are still some nice extras on this disc.
"Luis Buñuel: Atheist Thanks to God" is a short documentary (32 min.) featuring interviews with screen-writer Jean-Claude Carrière, Buñuel friend Jean Collet and several actors from the film. I liked this one quite a bit, though there´s nothing revelatory here.
The disc also includes interviews with critic Ian Christie (2007, 28 min.) and Jean-Claude Carrière (2000, 6 min.) Christie´s analysis and contextual background about "The Milky Way" is particularly interesting.
The insert booklet features essays by Carlos Fuentes and Mark Polizzotti as well as an interview with Buñuel, compiled from interviews from 1975-1977.
Film Value
Viewed in hindsight, "The Milky Way" heralds the final stage of Buñuel´s long and productive career, paving the way for similarly structured (or, rather, unstructured) narratives relying on sudden discontinuous breaks in logic, an trajectory that perhaps reached its apogee in the brilliantly discordant "The Phantom of Liberty" (1974). Buñuel was 69 when he released "The Milky Way," but he was just entering the freshest and, arguably, the most fertile period of his career.
Average user rating (1-5):
Not yet rated.
Not yet rated.