Milky Way (aka La Voie Lactee) (1969)

Luis Bunuel in an irreverent playful mood again but, alas, not as irreverent as the film would like to think it is. Two beggars (Laurent Terzieff, Paul Frankeur) journey from France to Spain on a pilgrimage to a holy shrine. Along the way, they meet an odd assortment of both contemporary and historical religious and secular characters. The film examines the absurdities and anomalies of the Catholic church’s dogma as well as heresy, the virgin birth, the holy trinity and miracles. The plot is fragmented, not unlike Bunuel’s DISCREET CHARM OF THE BOURGEOISIE and PHANTOM OF LIBERTY. Still, as blasphemous satires go, it’s more fun than SIMON OF THE DESERT. Among the more familiar faces in the large cast are Delphine Seyrig, Michel Piccoli, Pierre Clementi, Alain Cuny and Julian Bertheau.