Bunuel_Luis_My_Last_Breath

ailway compartment filled with workers who'd been crushed todeath in an accident. On the other hand, he claimed to have discovereddeath the day that Prince Mdivani, one of his good friends, waskilled in an automobile accident. Apparently, both he and Dali hadbeen invited to spend some time with the painter Jose-Maria Sert inCatalonia, but at the last minute Dali decided to stay in Palamosand work. He was the first to learn of the prince's death, as he wasdriving to Catalonia, and when he arrived on the scene claimed tobe totally prostrate with grief. For Dali, the death of a prince was areality and had nothing whatsoever to do with a carriage full ofworking-class corpses.We haven't seen each other for thirty-five years, but I rememberone day in 1966, while I was working in Madrid with Carrikre onthe scenario for Belle a5 jour, I received a cable from Cadaquks. It wasin French (the quintessential snobbery), and Dali demanded that Ijoin him immediately to write the sequel to Un Chien andalou. "I'vegot ideas that'll make you weep with joy," he said, adding that he'dbe delighted to come to Madrid if Cadaquks was inconvenient forme. I replied with a Spanish proverb: Agua pasada no rueda molino,or, Once the water's gone over the dam, the mill won't run anymore.Later, he sent another telegram congratulating me on winning theGolden Lion for Belle demur at the Venice Film Festival and invitingme to collaborate on a journal he was getting ready to launch, calledRhinoceros. I decided not to answer.In 1979, I agreed to loan the Musee Beaubourg in Paris thepainting Dali had done of me while we were students in Madrid. Inthis meticulous portrait Dali had divided the canvas into little squares,measuring to the centimeter my nose and lips. At my request, he'dadded a few long, slender clouds like the ones I so admired in oneof Mantegna's paintings. We'd planned to meet at the exhibition,but when I heard that there was to be a formal banquet, completewith photographers and press, I declined.Despite all the wonderful memories from our youth and theadmiration I still feel for much of his work, when I think about Dali