Product Description

The first of what Luis Buñuel later proclaimed a trilogy (along with The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie and The Phantom of Liberty) about "the search for truth," The Milky Way (La voie lactée) daringly deconstructs contemporary and traditional views on Catholicism with ribald, rambunctious surreality. Two French beggars, present-day pilgrims en route to Spain’s holy city of Santiago de Compostela, serve as Buñuel’s narrators for an anticlerical history of heresy, told with absurdity and filled with images that rank among Buñuel’s most memorable (stigmatic children, crucified nuns) and hilarious (Jesus considering a good shave). A diabolically entertaining look at the mysteries of fanaticism, The Milky Way remains a hotly debated work from cinema’s greatest skeptic.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #31353 in DVD
• Brand: Image Entertainment
• Released on: 2007-08-21
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.66:1
• Formats: Color, Dolby, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: French, Italian, Latin
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 101 minutes

Customer Reviews

Guards, get that heretic!
The Milky Way (1969)
Dir. Maestro Luis Bunuel
One of best movies that analyzes European Christianity and Catholicism with a Surrealistic microscope. Two allegorical pilgrims on there way to Santiago de Compostela from Paris see 2000 years of Orthodoxy through a series of unrelated vignettes dealing with heresies and anathemia. Blasphemy? Hardly. Sacreligous? Never!
Critical in a loving way? Of course. Get this movie. Pierre Clementi rules as the Destroying Angel!
Extras are minimal with 1 short documentry and 2 interviews, one with a critic who sounds like he didn't get it in the first place.
However, this Criterion DVD is packaged with the class that The Milky Way deserves. Subtitles default in English with overlapping text. Original language: French with a touch of Spanish and Mystical Latin. I see this movie as the natural sequel to Simon of the Desert.
Luis Bunuel, filmmaker, Surrealist Extraordinaire, we'll never see his kind again. Nope. Thank God for him!
Coincidence or not, you decide: the timing for the release of this movie and the Mother Theresa journal?!!!!!

an atheist's guide to spiritual enlightenment
despite the weight of the subject at hand, and the disorientation from the rapid montage from one time period to the next, this may be the least surreal of all the French era Bunuels. Within a mix of what for Bunuel seems relatively light provocation, he presents a series of historical religious events that amplify his critique of the Church for it's losing its way through its obsession with infallible detail that contradicts itself as it evolves. i confess that as a fan of the parable of the good samaritan, i share a sense of befuddlement at the intolerance and exclusivity of the fundamentalists of any religion, let alone one founded on love and tolerance.

but what makes Bunuel's argument so interesting is his avowed atheist stance. from his earliest movies on, he has ridiculed the folly of authoritarian ascension, seemingly maintaining full grasp of the beauty of the original that lies beneath the facade. he opens the door for the viewer, while demonstratively refusing to take the step through for himself. one can only wonder what motivations lay at the heart of an artist whose gifts produce such clarity.

one of the best
get this film....my favorite scene is when the virgin Mary calls over jesus, after he gives a speech at a dinner, and tells him we're out of wine can you do something. so Bunuel. unlike no other.