About animals

Yes, it is true. I read an interview with the actor and he said the hardest thing he ever had to do was stab that mule to death. Obviously, he had to get it right in the first take. It was exhausting for him and of course very unjust to the animals that were killed (rabbit, dog, mule). You can tell they selected a very old and feeble hunting dog; one that would have been a candidate for euthanasia soon anyway. But still it was an incredibly callous thing to do and audiences everywhere have been scandalized by the film ever since, to the point of walking out on it. In Cannes where it represented Spain people did just that.