The Milky Way [La Voie Lactée] **** (1969, Laurent Terzieff, Paul Frankeur, Delphine Seyrig, Edith Scob, Alain Cuny, Bernard Verley, Michel Piccoli, Pierre Clémenti) – Classic Movie Review 9084

Co-writer/ director Luis Buñuel brings the full force of his wit and irony to bear on his attack against Catholicism in his 1969 comedy drama The Milky Way [La Voie Lactée], which focuses on the pilgrimage of a couple of Parisian down-and-out drifters to a shrine at Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, Spain.

Plenty of time lapses, narrative digressions, surreal events and complex references to Roman Catholic dogma combine to help to make this beautifully shot and sometimes very amusing film occasionally inaccessible.

But its sly mischief-making, anti-authority stand and charismatic cast are delightful, and the great Buñuel is working at near peak form.

The Milky Way [La Voie Lactée] stars Laurent Terzieff, Paul Frankeur, Delphine Seyrig, Edith Scob, Alain Cuny, Bernard Verley, Michel Piccoli, Pierre Clémenti, Georges Marchal, Jean Piat, Claude Cerval, Michel Etcheverry, Agnès Capri, Ellen Bahl, Julien Bertheau, Muni, François Maistre and Jean-Claude Carriere, who also co-writes the screenplay with Buñuel.

It is followed by Tristana (1970), The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972), The Phantom of Liberty [Le fantôme de la liberté] (1974) and That Obscure Object of Desire (1977).

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 9084

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