It is important not to insist on viewing other cultures and other times only through our own perspective. I mean, really: Dostoyevsky has a novel which has characteristically always been translated as "The Idiot." And the word "idiot" figures prominently as both an epithet and a scientific term in the last paragraph, as the protagonist becomes one. A little more context, please. So much more about LAS HURDES is more important than many people's current uneasiness with the term "idiot"--I hope that when people are teaching this film, they are using it to demonstrate how surrealism can be present even in the absence of "dream and fantasy imagery"--which is how too many people, falsely, represent this very important and anarchic movement. After visiting the North of Spain for the first time ever this past year, I am convinced, more than ever, that LAS HURDES is one of 2 or 3 key Bunuel works. ---- To signoff SCREEN-L, e-mail [log in to unmask] and put SIGNOFF SCREEN-L in the message. Problems? Contact [log in to unmask]