The Milky Way

I had hoped to get more out of this, but my own lack of knowledge/interest in Catholicism prevented me as much as anything else. At least, I think now I have finally gotten over this great wall I put between myself and Bunuel, overthinking him, looking for something incredibly profound or far-out crazy. (I am not saying I’ve decided there is nothing profound in Bunuel, only that — like any other director — it should present itself to me naturally; I shouldn’t go digging for things I can’t plainly see.) But in the case of this film, when I decide to appreciate it only for what it is, when I say to myself “a priest just threw coffee in a cop’s face; it doesn’t mean anything, it’s just funny,” I find that I don’t necessarily get the joke, either. Confused Oh well, this was never going to be THE Bunuel for me; in retrospect I think I do rather “get” Tristana, Chambermaid and Belle de jour when I think of them more simply, and that’s plenty, really. Anyway, back to this film: my “problem” is I just don’t know the religion well enough to play along, but when he reveals that every strange interpretation of the faith by the film’s many colorful characters is taken verbatim out of the scripture or historical analysis, that pretty damn effectively brings it all home.