Luis Buñuel Marathon Round 2 (III of V)
*tRavELs thE MiLky WAy buT dOesN’t eVen fiNd MILK*
Sure, the movie is heavily reliant on utilizing dialogue to whip up its concerns, but HOLY HELL are they infatuating to listen to. Luis Buñuel’s The Milky Way dexterously associates our present, involving two hobos on a quest for truth, and our past leading all the way back to the days of Jesus Christ. Time is very undefined in this one, and it’s all for bettering Buñuel’s memo.
In a nutshell, this underrated Buñuel burlesque comments on our insecurities when finding contradictions in our beliefs, the sexual and logistical hypocrisy within religious institutions, our amusing reliance on sacred texts as a guide for definite answers, the cruel hatred that can spawn from skeptics, the sexism ancient religion burdens upon young girls, the violence that stirs in us when we can’t agree with one another’s knowledge or lifestyle, and our obsession with scientific progression. Buñuel is literally flipping off every categorical belief/non-belief group imaginable and it’s spectacularly funny.
The Milky Way is essentially a montage style of filmmaking, showcasing an array of different scenarios and surreal parallels that tether to things we find in common human culture such as The Bible. While this routine of presentation could play off as a downside to the project that would otherwise make it something of a near masterpiece if it were more interconnected with an evolving narrative, it is still successful in what it sets out to do in terms of crafting engaging satire and constructive commentary.
All in all, this movie is just proof that everybody is a clueless idiot at the end of the day. Go figure?
Verdict: B
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“The Milky Way” is now available to stream on Tubi, Kanopy, and The Criterion Channel.
Burning the Celluloid 
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