402 The Milky Way

Discuss releases by Criterion and the films on them. Threads may contain spoilers!
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Via_Chicago
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#26 Post by Via_Chicago » Wed Aug 08, 2007 12:29 pm

dadaistnun wrote:Beaver's review/comparison is up.
Ah, Tooze strikes again! He really provides us a magnificent service with his screen captures, but my goodness, he totally loses me when he says things like: "Frankly, sometimes the Warner colors and transfer looks superior but for the most part the Criterion is the better overall image in my opinion - it certainly exhibits sharper detail at times." Um...no Gary, the Warner colors and transfers look nothing like film. 60s and 70s color stock would never, ever look as washed out and bright as the Warners captures would indicate. The Criterion looks completely accurate.

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tryavna
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#27 Post by tryavna » Wed Aug 08, 2007 12:48 pm

If anyone cares, I actually like the look of Optimum's transfer for this movie better than what I see on Beaver's comparison page. The colors are not nearly as washed out as they appear to be in the Warner, and they don't exhibit the brownish hue of the Criterion. The subs are also optional on the Optimum, and the Optimum gives you the trailer and the "Atheist Thanks to God" extra.

I guess I'll be happy with my Optimum boxset.

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#28 Post by Greathinker » Wed Aug 08, 2007 2:12 pm

To my eye the last image with the car gives it away- on the optimum you only have some idea that it's a white car, the criterion at least makes it clear that its powder blue, though very faintly. There's still the brownish hue, who knows if that was intended.

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tryavna
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#29 Post by tryavna » Wed Aug 08, 2007 2:27 pm

Greathinker wrote:To my eye the last image with the car gives it away- on the optimum you only have some idea that it's a white car, the criterion at least makes it clear that its powder blue, though very faintly.
Are you talking about the Optimum or the Warner? Gary's screencaps are of the Warner. The Optimum is a totally different transfer than the Warner, though Gary apparently doesn't have the boxset to cap it yet.

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#30 Post by Greathinker » Wed Aug 08, 2007 7:52 pm

Yes, the Warner. My mistake.

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#31 Post by Gigi M. » Thu Aug 16, 2007 2:36 pm


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#32 Post by kinjitsu » Tue Aug 21, 2007 4:28 pm

Dave Kehr in The NY Times (continued from his review of the Lionsgate set):

[quote]This week also brings the DVD premiere of one of Buñuel's prestigious European films, “The Milky Wayâ€

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#33 Post by Michael Kerpan » Thu Aug 23, 2007 11:09 pm

Even "pateliers" are for real:

http://tinyurl.com/36nyky

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HistoryProf
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Re: 402 The Milky Way

#34 Post by HistoryProf » Fri Jun 11, 2010 7:26 pm


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Gregory
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Re: Out Of Print: StudioCanal Snatches It All Away

#35 Post by Gregory » Sat Jun 12, 2010 8:38 pm

The Milky Way cannot simply be described as an "attack," I think, though parts of it can be convincingly interpreted that way. As a historical work, it was scrupulously based on the Bible and other texts, and as a whole I think it presents a complex picture of heresy. The Vatican was fairly pleased with it, actually.

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Re: Out Of Print: StudioCanal Snatches It All Away

#36 Post by Fortisquince » Sat Jun 12, 2010 8:42 pm

I meant that The Milky Way attacks Christianity directly and at length, while Bunuel typically focuses his wrath on the Catholic church and its representatives among his other targets. For example, The Milky Way refers to various Christian heresies in detail. So, while Bunuel's other films take swipes at Christianity, The Milky Way focuses on it exclusively. I think this may be a reason that some critics have ranked it lower than other Bunuel films over the years.

I disagree that Bunuel attacks organized religion through his films. I know of no criticism of Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, or Buddhism in his films. No doubt Bunuel had no use for organized religion at all, but his attacks were on Christianity alone and the Catholic church in particular.

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Re: Out Of Print: StudioCanal Snatches It All Away

#37 Post by domino harvey » Sat Jun 12, 2010 8:43 pm

Who could ever forget the Buddhist crusades

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Re: Out Of Print: StudioCanal Snatches It All Away

#38 Post by Fortisquince » Sat Jun 12, 2010 9:31 pm

A person with delicate religious sensibilities is not what I had in mind. I meant that as you say, The Milky Way is "less than engaging, BECAUSE it seems to only concern itself with addressing the heresies." Speaking for myself, I find the film very interesting. However, I can imagine that someone who enjoys Bunuel's pointed jabs at the Church might not enjoy a whole film that attacks Christianity through a thorough examination of some of its most notable heresies.

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Re: Out Of Print: StudioCanal Snatches It All Away

#39 Post by Mr Sausage » Sat Jun 12, 2010 10:37 pm

domino harvey wrote:Who could ever forget the Buddhist crusades
Well, they may not have led crusades, but the Sinhalese Buddhists of Sri Lanka have engaged in pogroms against the Hindu Tamils of that Island, and a Buddhist priest did murder the first elected president of independant Sri Lanka. Also Japanese imperialism was heavily influenced by its particular brand of Buddhism.

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Re: Out Of Print: StudioCanal Snatches It All Away

#40 Post by HistoryProf » Sun Jun 13, 2010 12:51 am

david hare wrote:
Milky Way is a serious attack on Christianity, which may bother some people. However, it is done in a very thoughtful, sincere manner that ultimately leaves me with a sense of mystery, not unlike the feeling one might have after a religious service.
Hahahahahah! Bunuel's entire life's work is a serious attack on organized religion! If you don't get that, along with his attacks on bourgeois morality and the hypocrisy, you don't get Bunuel.

Thats one of the funniest things I've ever read here.

Walks off, nodding head..... shaking with disbelief.
what are you quoting here? just curious to see the entire post is all...was this cut off of somewhere else?

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domino harvey
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Re: 402 The Milky Way

#41 Post by domino harvey » Sun Jun 13, 2010 1:04 am

You just posted there: the StudioCanal thread

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Re: 402 The Milky Way

#42 Post by Michael Kerpan » Sun Jun 13, 2010 1:34 pm

David --

I find Bunuel to be one of the few film makers who takes religion truly seriously -- even if he chooses to (mostly) attack (in a black humorous fashion). I think this can make his work interesting to intelligent, religiously inclined people. LEE Chang-dongs's Milyang (Secret Sunshine) is one of the few recent films that does something similar (though it is more bleak than Bunuel).

Not an "essential" Bunuel film, perhaps, but Milky Way was lots of fun for me -- hope it becomes available again in good quality (R1 playable) form.

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Matt
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Re: 402 The Milky Way

#43 Post by Matt » Sun Jun 13, 2010 1:41 pm

I think Bunuel always maintained that he was not anti-religion but rather anti-clerical.

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Re: 402 The Milky Way

#44 Post by Michael Kerpan » Sun Jun 13, 2010 2:03 pm

Matt wrote:I think Bunuel always maintained that he was not anti-religion but rather anti-clerical.
Anti-clerical-establishment might be even closer to the mark -- as he has some surprisingly positive portrayals of "clerics" (my personal favorite being the worker-bishop of "Discreet Charm").

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HistoryProf
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Re: 402 The Milky Way

#45 Post by HistoryProf » Sun Jun 13, 2010 2:25 pm

domino harvey wrote:You just posted there: the StudioCanal thread
right...saw it right after and using my noggin for a change to answer my own question.

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Re: 402 The Milky Way

#46 Post by colinr0380 » Sun Jun 13, 2010 3:03 pm

Of course there is nothing more cutting and dangerous than someone who can comment on certain religious hypocrisies from the 'insiders' perspective of actually having some connection to ideas that they are tackling (which is also why The Devils is still effectively banned).

And Bunuel's foot fetishism moments make Quentin Tarantino look like an amateur!
Last edited by colinr0380 on Sun Jun 13, 2010 3:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Mr Sausage
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Re: 402 The Milky Way

#47 Post by Mr Sausage » Sun Jun 13, 2010 3:04 pm

Michael Kerpan wrote:
Matt wrote:I think Bunuel always maintained that he was not anti-religion but rather anti-clerical.
Anti-clerical-establishment might be even closer to the mark -- as he has some surprisingly positive portrayals of "clerics" (my personal favorite being the worker-bishop of "Discreet Charm").
Indeed, the Milky Way is almost totally about how spirituality becomes subordinated to obscurantist pedantry when various established churches vie for earthly power. The movie may not be Bunuel's most savage satire, but surely no one can miss the bitter taste when Bunuel shows us people willing to murder each other over baffling questions like whether or not the son is consubstantial with the father.

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Re: 402 The Milky Way

#48 Post by Michael Kerpan » Sun Jun 13, 2010 3:31 pm

Mr_sausage wrote:The movie may not be Bunuel's most savage satire, but surely no one can miss the bitter taste when Bunuel shows us people willing to murder each other over baffling questions like whether or not the son is consubstantial with the father.
The children's pageant featuring recitation of proclamations of anathema also struck me as pretty savage (and funny).

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Mr Sausage
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Re: 402 The Milky Way

#49 Post by Mr Sausage » Sun Jun 13, 2010 4:36 pm

Michael Kerpan wrote:
Mr_sausage wrote:It may not be Bunuel's most savage satire, but surely no one can miss the bitter taste when Bunuel shows us people willing to murder each other over baffling questions like whether or not the son is consubstantial with the father.
The children's pageant featuring recitation of proclamations of anathema also struck me as pretty savage (and funny).
Hah! I'd forgotten that part. One of the funniest and most sly jabs at religious indoctrination I've seen.

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Re: 402 The Milky Way

#50 Post by Fortisquince » Sun Jun 13, 2010 8:03 pm

he is determinedly an atheist, despite the attmps of some misguided fools to reinvent him.
One of the reasons that I like The Milky Way is that it's a real pebble in the shoe to those that want to sentimentalize Bunuel. I think the tendency among mainstream critics is to look at Bunuel as that cuddly old surrealist. A man who gently mocks the foibles of humankind with a wry smile. The Milky Way puts the lie to such a view of Bunuel. It's a withering assault on the Church that doesn't fit the typical narrative. Consequently, I think it's been underrated.

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