Filmmaker Juan Luis Buñuel, who worked as an assistant director on Orson Welles’ Don Quixote, died on December 7. He was 83.
He was the son of noted Spanish-Mexican director Luis Buñuel. Born in France, he directed such films as Expulsion of the Devil (1973), La femme aux bottes rouges (1974) and Leonor (1975).
In This Is Orson Welles, Welles noted Buñuel’s tenure as an assistant director on the unfinished Don Quixote. He worked on the shoot in Mexico during the same period as Welles shot Touch of Evil.
In 2005, Peter Tonguette interviewed Buñuel about his involvement in Don Quixote, which began with Buñuel serving as a translator.
“As the work went on, I became (assistant director) … as soon as I learned a little bit of technique,”Buñuel. said. “I didn’t know anything about filming. I never went to watch my father shoot or anything. It didn’t interest me. So I learned with Welles.”
“I found the work interesting, and Akim Tamiroff kept telling me, ‘You have to go into films. You’ll love it.’,”Buñuel recalled. “Knowing what I know now about films and film technique, I’d love to be Orson’s assistant again.”
Buñuel added, “I saw him many years later in Paris at the studios. I said, “Hi, Orson! What …” And he stopped me. He said, “Yeah, ‘What ever happened to Don Quixote?’ Well, Francisco Reiguera (the actor who played Don Quixote) died, the horse died, Akim Tamiroff died …”
He is survived by his wife, Joyce Buñuel and son, filmmaker Diego Buñuel.
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