Bunuel_Luis_My_Last_Breath

directed many films of his own. The writer closest to me, however,is undoubtedly Cadre, with whom I've written six screenplays.The essential thing about a script is, in the last analysis, suspense-thetalent for developing a plot so effectively that the spectator'smind doesn't wander for even a moment. You can argueforever about the content of a film, its aesthetic, its style, even itsmoral posture; but the crucial imperative is to avoid boredom at allcosts.The idea of making a film about Christian heresies first came tome just after my arrival in Mexico, when I read Menendez Pelayo'sHistoria de 10s heterodoxos espanoles, Its accounts of martyred hereticsfascinated methese men who were as convinced of their truths asthe orthodox Christians were of theirs. In fact, what's always intriguedme about the behavior of heretics is not only their strangeinventiveness, but their certainty that they possess the absolute truth.As Breton once wrote, despite his aversion to religion, the surrealistshad "certain points of contact" with the heretics.Everything in The Milky Way is based on authentic historicaldocuments. The archbishop whose corpse is exhumed and publiclyburned (when personal papers tinged with heretical ideas are foundafter his death) was in fact a real Archbishop Carranza of Toledo. Wedid a great deal of research for this film, primarily in Abbe Pluquet'sDictionnutre des hMies. Carriere and I wrote the first draft in the fallof 1967 at the Parador Cazorla in the Andalusian mountains, wherethe road ended at the door of our hotel and where the few huntersaround left at dawn and returned at nightfall, bringing back theoccasional corpse of an ibex. We spent days discussing the HolyTrinity, the dual nature of Christ, and the mysteries of the VirginMary, and we were both happily surprised when Silberman agreedto the project. The script was finished at San Jose Puma duringFebruary and March 1968, and although filming was temporarilydelayed by the commotion of that May, we finished the shoot inParis during the summer. Paul Frankeur and Laurent Terzieff playedthe two pilgrims walking to Santiago de Compostela who meet, on