Bunuel_Luis_My_Last_Breath

and everyone piled out and bought tickets. They returned severaldays in a row to see the movie, until finally, beside himself withcuriosity, the owner of the theatre did his best to find out why theykept coming back. He tried several times to ask them, but since hedidn't speak their language, they couldn't communicate. In the end,he let them in free.After The Milky Way, I became interested in Galdos's epistolarynovel Tristam. Although it's certainly not one of his best, the characterof Don Lope is fascinating, and I thought I might be able toswitch the action from Madrid to Toledo and thus render homageto the city I loved so much. The first actors I thought of were SilviaPinal and Ernesto Alonso, but since they were busy with anotherproject, I thought about Fernando Rey, who was so marvelous inVmdiam, and a young Italian actress I much admired, StefaniaSandrelli. Later, I engaged Catherine Deneuve, who, although shedidn't seem to belong in Galdos's universe, turned out to be absolutelyperfect. The film was shot entirely in Toledo, except for somescenes in a studio in Madrid where Alarcon, the set designer, constructedan exact copy of the Zocodover cafe. If, as in Nazarzn, themain character is a faithful copy of Galdos's, I made considerablechanges in the structure and atmosphere, once again situating theaction in a more contemporary period. With Julio Alejandro's help,I added several personally meaningful details, like the bell tower andthe mortuary statue of Cardinal Tavera. Once again, I haven't seenTristana since it opened, but I remember liking the second half, fromthe return of the young woman with the amputated leg. I can stillhear her footsteps in the corridor, the scrape of her crutches, and thefebrile conversation of the priests over their cups of hot chocolate.Whenever I think of the shoot, I remember a joke I played onFernando Rey. (As he's a very dear friend, I hope he'll forgive methis confession.) Like so many actors, Fernando had a healthy appreciationof his own popularity; he loved being recognized in the streetand having people turn around and stare when he walked by. Oneday I told the production manager to bribe some local high school