Cinema Station

Luis Bunuel

From time to time, we will be quoting from books that we really enjoy, especially relating to film people.

“Instead of having costumes made for his beggars [for his film Viridiana], Spanish director Luis Bunuel went to Madrid’s garbage dumps and bought clothes off the backs fo the rag pickers.  Even they were embarrassed by their greasiness.  The extra playing the leper who tries to rape Viridiana was a genuine beggar and alcoholic who blew the lights on his first day by pissing on the fuse box. When he came to do his scenes with actress Silvia Pinal, she complained of his smell. Drunk, he had crapped in his pants.   Bunuel sent him to the hospital, with an assistant on guard.  Three days later, cleaned up and dried out, he played his part superbly.

-From a biography of the great Spanish director by John Baxter, 1994

-GE