Was it me, or did this seem like a Python film? A 'Life of Brian' like attack on dogma - did Bunuel ever mention Python in interviews and articles? They seem to be coming from two different corners of film-making and art, but here they obviously seem to have produced a pair of very similar and similarly funny movies.
sharePython did mention Bunuel: Michael Palin wrote the obit of Bunuel in Rolling Stone & said that all they were trying to do was be Bunuel.
shareEven more: when they released The meaning of life, they said that their major model and inspiration was Bunuel's Le fantome de la liberté. Having seen this yesterday for the first time, i totally agree and, in my opinion, Le fantome is even more funny and free than Meaning, i've always found that one very irregular
shareI remember reading the obit in Rolling Stone and could've sworn it was written by Eric Idle. No matter, the obit lead me into the wonderful world of Bunuel and have been a fan ever since. Brilliant is as brilliant does. whatever that means.
you say you'll change the Constitution well, you know, we all want to change your Head
yes it kind of did and since I don't like Monty Python at all I did not enjoy this movie either
4 out of 10
I Worship The Goddess Amber Tamblyn
One can't help but being curious about how the heck you landed in this forum. But since you work in a video store that can explain how you watch a Buñuel movie. Too bad you didn't like it. Some people would never have the chance to see it. I just saw it today and it sumes up practically all my ideas about catholicism. It was hilarious,and the space-time crosseroads were amazing, even the girls were pretty!(i wander so many of then use wigs, althought)
10 out of 10
FV(K You and whoever the hell Amber Tamblyn is! You are an ANATHEMA! (I know you don't know what that means without looking it up!) Your type really makes me puke you snotty nosed heap or parrot droppings!
shareI get the Monty Python comparison, there are some obvious touch points, but I would say the humour here is much more subtle and more intelligent, making a much more credible satire, especially since the philosophical/religious debatings throughout the film are sometimes funny but they end up being serious in that they are relevant. They pose serious questions regarding the nature of Christianity - questions that every person (christian or not) asks him/herself at least once.
I don't think this is one of Buñuel's better films, but it's an interesting watch.
Last film watched:
The Milky Way by Luis Buñuel - 7/10
It's been a hell of a time since you first posted Sir edmund, but I feel obliged to convey the nicest way to you that your ignorance seems simply encyclopaedic. How could Buñuel refer to the Pythons if The Milky Way was released in March 69 and the first BBC performance ever of the Pythons dates back to October 69 ? As some people have pointed out in this thread Buñuel is admittedly a fundamental reference for the Pythons, while I'm afraid Buñuel most surely died without the slighest notice of the existence of the Flying Circus masters.
However the impact Buñuel had on the Pythons, their styles are so different that I totally fail to see any connection but for the obvious fact that yeah both had a delighful black sense of humor and yeah both were surrealists.
Rgds Sir
though i do agree with you that bunuel was not influenced at all by monty python, i do not believe bunuel when dying in 1983 had not heard of monthy python, simply for 'Life of Brian' that touches upon similar questions as raised in e.g. the milky way.
I also agree that there's not much similarity between python and bunuel, however i think that the scene from 'the holy grail' where the policemen appear in the medieval fighting scene may have been taken directly from the scene in the milky way where the protagonists arrive in bayonne and a 18th century horse wagon passes them, thus combining two ages in one shot.
by the way, can anybody explain why the title is 'the milky way'?
It's called the Milky Way (La voie lactée/La vía lactea), because those on the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela (el camino de Santiago) traditionally followed the line of the "Milky Way" in the sky. Both the astronomical phenomenon and the route of the pilgrims are called "el camino de Santiago" in Spain.
sharePython's surreal humour owes a lot to Buñuel's cinema. If you pay attention to how the scenes are edited in "Un chien andalou", you'll notice a lot of similarities with Gilliam's animated sequences in "Flying Circus".
"Le charme discret de la bourgeoisie", which was made when the Flying Circus was on, feels particularly Pythonesque; I don't think it's just a case of one borrowing from the other, Don Luis and the boys genuinely seemed to share a similar sense of humour. Think of the scene in "Charme" where Simone, Florence and Alice go to the bar where there's only water left to drink: it's very reminiscent of the cheese shop sketch with Cleese and Palin. "Charme" was released in the US a couple months before the Python episode aired, could it be that at least one member of the group (Terry G. perhaps?) had seen it? In France it had been released one month before the episode aired. Who knows? Again, it could just be the proof that the boys were on the same frequency as Don Luis.
I agree with nosferatix in saying that both the Pythons and Bunuel were nothing more than surrealist. Most all surrealist address the idea of religion because of it's "negative" views from surrealist(Breton). Though I'm sure that the Pythons were in a way, influenced by Bunuel as most surrealist and filmmakers are.
Buñuel was making movies before the Monty Python guys were born!!!
shareThe Python's as it has been already mentioned by other users, were influenced by Buñuel, in particular Terry Gilliam.
'Life of Brian' and 'The Meaning of Life' could be considered lighter versions of 'The Milky Way'.
BTW I dunno why nobody have mentioned Pasolini's 'The Hawks and the Sparrows' a film to which 'The Milky Way' resembles in many ways.
Other similar movies: From Pasolini: 'The Gospel According to St. Mathew' and from Buñuel: 'Nazarín', 'Simon of the Desert', and to some extent 'The Phantom of Liberty'.