Bunuel_Luis_My_Last_Breath

Pro and Con 219his recipe for cultural revolution. His ideas have influenced me inmany ways, particularly in L'Age d'm. Maurice Heine once wrote adevastating critique in which he declared that de Sade would rollover in his grave if he knew what I'd done with his ideas; my onlyresponse was that my motivation was not to eulogize a dead writer,but to make a movie.And I adored Wagner, whose music I used in several films, fromUn Chien andalou to That Obscure Object of Desire. One of the greatesttragedies in my life is my deafness, for it's been over twenty yearsnow since I've been able to hear notes. When I listen to music, it'sas if the letters in a text were changing places with one another,rendering the words unintelligible and muddying the lines. I'd considermy old age redeemed if my hearing were to come back, formusic would be the gentlest opiate, calming my fears as I movetoward death. In any case, I suppose the only chance I have for thatkind of miracle involves nothing short of a visit to Lourdes.When I was young, I played the violin, and later, in Paris, thebanjo. Beethoven, Cksar Franck, Schumann, and Debussy, to namejust a few, were among my favorite composers. But our attitudestoward music have changed drastically since those days. For instance,we usually heard several months in advance when the Madrid Symphonywas coming to Saragossa, and we were always beside ourselveswith excitement. In fact, the waiting was decidedly voluptuous. Wemade preparations way in advance, counting the days, looking forscores, humming the melodies; and when the concert arrived at last,it was an incomparable delight. Today, all you have to do is press abutton and any kind of music you like will instantly fill your livingroom. I wonder what's been gained, however. I can't help feelingthat there is no beauty without hope, struggle, and conquest.In a different vein altogether, I like eating early, going to sleepearly, and waking up early, all of which makes me very un-Spanish.I also love the north, the cold, and the rain, and in these respectsI suppose I'm quite Spanish. Coming as I do from such an arid regionof the country, I find nothing so beautiful as vast damp forests