The Milky Way () is a
1969 film directed by
Luis Buñuel. It stars
Laurent Terzieff,
Paul Frankeur,
Delphine Seyrig,
Georges Marchal and
Michel Piccoli. Buñuel later called
The Milky Way the first in a trilogy (along with
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie and
The Phantom of Liberty) about “the search for truth."
The title of the film comes from the fact that original name for the
Milky Way was the
Way of St. James which directed pilgrims from northern Europe to Spain.Buñuel, Luis.
My Last Sigh. Trans. Abigail Israel. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2003. ISBN 0-8166-4387-3. page 245.
Synopsis
In the film, two men travel the ancient pilgrimage road to
Santiago de Compostela and meet embodiments of various
Catholic heresies along the way. These religious events are based on actual historical documents. For instance, the
archbishop whose corpse is exhumed and publicly burned is based on
Archbishop Carranza of Toledo. The film ends with the following text:
The Milky Way plays with time. The two main characters often encounter individuals in the dress of various time periods throughout history, or historical events take place in the modern setting of the film, including scenes from the life of
Jesus Christ. In his autobiography, Buñuel explains that he wanted to put Jesus Christ in the film because he "wanted to show him as an ordinary man,...
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