The Exterminating Angel

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g j An absolute masterpiece. Feels 40 years ahead of its time with a premise that remains chillingly unique and original to this day. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 03/09/24 Full Review S R 1001 movies to see before you die. An impressive allegory, full of themes and frustrations of being stuck somewhere. I enjoyed it despite there being no real reason behind things. RUS. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/31/24 Full Review Alec B I love that Buñuel takes these characters seriously while placing them in the most absurd of scenarios. This kind of consideration makes the satire more potent and I bet this movie still makes rich people angry. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 11/10/23 Full Review Dave S Nobody has or ever will do surrealism like Luis Bunuel. The premise of The Exterminating Angel is pretty straightforward – a group of society's upper crust gather for an elaborate meal in an ornate mansion. However, when it is time to depart, they find that they are unable to do so. There are no barriers stopping them – they simply cannot leave. From there, things get weird. Bunuel's message is clear pretty much from the get go and the satire is stinging throughout. For those who enjoy venturing into Bunuel's worlds of weirdness, The Exterminating Angel should be right up their alley. For those who like their films a little more straightforward, this one is one that should probably be avoided. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 08/24/23 Full Review Matthew B If anyone wonders why Spanish surrealist director Luis Buñuel spent decades mocking the bourgeoisie and the church, The Exterminating Angel is perhaps the film that comes closest to offering an explanation. Of course we always have to be careful applying any direct or allegorical message to a Buñuel movie. The director himself would probably find such interpretations amusing, as he does not directly tackle any subject matter. His movies are dream-like reveries, reflecting in a semi-conscious way his state of mind – his hopes, wishes, fears, loves and hates. As a caption explains at the beginning of The Exterminating Angel, "The best explanation of this film is that, from the standpoint of pure reason, there is no explanation." Still The Exterminating Angel does seem to capture in a symbolic manner an important strand in Buñuel's thinking, and it is hard to ignore this. Buñuel, an émigré who left his native country after the Spanish Civil War, had not forgiven the bourgeoisie or the church for their role in supporting Franco's Fascist administration. In Buñuel's movie, the bourgeoisie are trapped in an endless dinner party from which they cannot leave after the servants depart. Notably they only get to leave after the servants return. They are helpless without the proletarians whom they despise. Ironically, while Buñuel is often thought of as being a Communist, perhaps not accurately, The Exterminating Angel was banned in Russia, where the ruling regime saw the obvious parallels of a film about people who are unable to leave a party. Still this is not a humourless dissection of Spanish politics, but a film that also works on a literal level as a comedy of sorts. In a sense it is about the behaviour of the bourgeoisie following the Spanish Civil War, but more than that it is simply about a group of privileged and well-to-do people who find themselves trapped in an absurdist situation. It is appropriate that Buñuel should use a dinner party to express his themes. What could be more representative of the lives of the wealthy than having a dinner party? What activity could indicate normality and order more than a carefully-planned meal, with one course following another, and everyone observing the niceties of social etiquette? Indeed these privileged and pampered hedonists behave exactly as one might expect. The hosts are hard-hearted to the servants who say they need to leave early, and threaten to fire them. When a servant trips over and sends the food flying onto the floor, the guests laugh callously. There is no physical barrier or threat stopping anyone from leaving the house. Perhaps it only the weak will of the bourgeoisie that prevents them from going. If we wish to return to the possible symbolic message of the film, we might suggest that they are trapped by their own lethargy and inaction in the face of Fascism. The army bizarrely put a yellow flag over the entrance of the house as if it is quarantined. In black-and-white, this seems to resemble a flag of surrender. Indeed the house comes to reflect the condition of its guests, now its edifice is peeled away. Floorboards are torn up, pipes are burst and walls ripped open. A musician smashes up his instrument for firewood. All pretence of civilisation has gone. "Everything I've most hated since I was a child – rudeness, violence, filth – are now our inseparable companions," complains one guest. Along the way, Buñuel approaches the subject with his customary surrealism. Some scenes are improvised. The film is rife with continuity errors, which Buñuel included deliberately. This leads to some scenes being seemingly repeated, as if to reflect the cycle in which the guests are trapped. I wrote a longer appreciation of The Exterminating Angel on my blog page if you would like to read more: https://themoviescreenscene.wordpress.com/2022/02/10/the-exterminating-angel-1962/ Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 08/24/23 Full Review Nawt W The surrealism and absurdity of this movie would be much less perplexing if you had watched Luis Buñuel's French movies. You would also probably ascertain that he has been essentially making the same film for over a decade. You can interpret many motifs in this film since the eventual reason for their entrapment is kept purposefully unclear. Could it be a rich-vanity bubble that can only be escaped by adherence to their inane, never-ending rituals? The facade of high society etiquette that becomes irrelevant the moment the rich have to break a wall to get water (or apparently, as it was originally planned, resort to cannibalism)? Varied jabs at Franco's regime in Spain? It can be all of it. The main point is that, in the end, no one learned anything. But aside from this metaphorical malarkey, is this story interesting to watch? I'd say yes. The short runtime of the movie and characters quickly acknowledging the absurdity of their situation help you not lose focus. Even if the first 15 minutes are just nameless figures greeting each other in purposeful scenes of repetition, followed by the practical survival of 20+ people in one room. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/13/23 Full Review Read all reviews

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