Search - The Milky Way [Criterion Collection] on DVD

Content Advisory: Adult Situations, Questionable for Children Movie Release: 1969 DVD Release: 08/21/2007 Format: DVD - Color,Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV Audio Tracks: French Subtitles: English SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 41 mins Studio: Criterion Members Wishing: 22 Genres: Comedy Drama, Road Movie, Satire, Religious Drama

While arch surrealist Luis Buñuel never made a secret of his skepticism about the existence of God, he was also raised as a strict Spanish Catholic and remained fascinated with the church's teaching throughout his life, and his obsessions with both faith and the contradictions of dogma provided the basis for this episodic satiric comedy. Jean (Laurent Terzieff) and Pierre (Paul Frankeur) are two threadbare vagabonds who are making their way from Paris to Spain on a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, where the remains of Saint James are believed to be kept. While Jean and Pierre's journey begins in the 20th Century, as they travel they seemingly develop the ability to move through time and space as they pass through a variety of historical scenes taken from a broad range of theological texts -- and all involving heresy in one form or another. As they walk the long road to Santiago de Compostela (when they can't catch a ride), Jean and Pierre encounter Jesus (Bernard Verley), who decides not to shave his beard to keep his mother happy; a young boy with stigmata and unusual powers; the Marquis de Sade (Michel Piccoli), who patently struggles to teach atheism to a young girl he's captured; an eccentric priest who has an irreversible belief in transubstantiation until he changes his mind; two men who put their debate over Catholic dogma to the test in a duel with swords; and Satan (Pierre Clémenti), who shows up just in time for a car wreck. La Voie Lactée (aka The Milky Way) was scripted by Bunuel and his frequent screenwriting collaborator Jean-Claude Carrière; each of the film's historic episodes was adapted faithfully from an actual biblical text or historical account. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Laurent Terzieff - Jean
Paul Frankeur - Pierre
Alain Cuny - Man with Cape
Delphine Seyrig - Prostitute
Edith Scob - Virgin
Bernard Verley - Jesus

One of the less celebrated films of Luis Buñuel valedictory run of art-house hits from the Sixties and Seventies, La Voie Lactée (aka The Milky Way) has been one of the hardest titles from this period of Bunuel's career to see, but the Criterion Collection have come to the rescue with this fine DVD release of the movie. The Milky Way has been transferred to disc in its original European widescreen aspect ratio of 1.66:1, which is letterboxed on conventional televisions and enhanced for anamorphic playback on 16x9 monitors. The image is sharp and clean throughout, and Christian Matras's camerawork looks splendid on disc. The audio has been mastered in Dolby Digital Mono, preserving the original mix, and the film sounds fine, if not unusually strong. The dialogue is in French, with optional English subtitles but no multiple language options. This DVD has been augmented with plenty of relevant bonus features, including a short interview with co-screenwriter Jean-Claude Carrière, an appreciation of the film by critic Ian Christie (who also discusses the theological and historical basis behind many of the sequences), the film's original European trailer, and a short documentary on Bunuel and The Milky Way, Luis Bunuel: Atheist Thanks To God. The accompanying booklet also includes short essays on the picture from Carlos Fuentes and Mark Polizzotti and excerpts from an interview from the mid-Seventies in which Bunuel talks about The Milky Way and his fascination with heretics. Criterion's release of The Milky Way proves once again that they're the leaders in definitive editions of classic European cinema, and Bunuel fans will love this set. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide