Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles 2019

The controversy surrounding his debut feature, L’Age d’Or, leaves director Luis Buñuel struggling to secure new projects. In a twist of fate, anthropologist Maurice Legendre presents Buñuel with an ethnographic study focused on the Las Hurdes region of Spain, suggesting he create a documentary about this area. With the support of his friend, sculptor Ramón Acín, who buys a lottery ticket and vows to fund the film if he wins, destiny plays its hand; Ramón hits the jackpot and fulfills his promise. Consequently, Buñuel gathers a film crew in the picturesque town of La Alberca.

From La Alberca, the crew embarks on a journey to a monastery that doubles as their lodging, venturing into nearby villages characterized by dilapidated, box-like homes tightly clustered together. The narrow, winding streets create a labyrinthine feel, and Ramón astutely observes that the jagged rooftops resemble turtle scales. As they capture footage, the crew is jolted by the stark poverty surrounding the villagers, who seem astonished by the abundance of food the film team brings. A school visit reveals that many locals rely on government subsidies for caring for orphaned children, while schoolchildren swarm around Buñuel, eager for affection. In a heart-wrenching moment, he encounters a dying little girl on the street, feeling utterly powerless without the necessary medicine to save her life.

Despite working on a documentary, Buñuel constructs various scenes for heightened drama, causing friction with his crew. In La Alberca, he instructs Ramón to hire a farmer to reenact a local ritual involving the beheading of a rooster. Later, he desires to film a mountain goat as it slips and tumbles down a cliff, opting instead to shoot one dead to capture the desired effect quickly. Even more poignantly, he orchestrates for a donkey to be stung to death by bees, illustrating the suffering experienced by the local populace.

Throughout the filming process, Buñuel is haunted by nightmares stemming from his troubled childhood. One particular vision featuring his mother and the Virgin Mary drives him to don a nun’s habit. Following the heart-wrenching demise of the little girl, he experiences a chilling nightmare in which he sees a friend from the region take on the guise of Death, prompting him to stage a funeral for an infant in the film.

Fast forward to 1933, and Buñuel finds himself back in Paris, piecing together his film, Las Hurdes: Tierra Sin Pan. The end notes of the film reveal the tragic fate of Ramón Acín and his wife, executed shortly after the Nationalist coup in Spain due to their Anarchist beliefs. Although Buñuel manages to release his documentary in Spain, Ramón’s name is initially omitted from the credits. Years later, he is able to rectify this oversight and restore Ramón’s rightful place among the credits, honoring his friend’s legacy.