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The Exterminating Angel

Original title: El ángel exterminador
  • 19621962
  • Not RatedNot Rated
  • 1h 35m
IMDb RATING
8.0/10
33K
YOUR RATING
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • IMDbPro
El ángel exterminador (1962)
Watch {VideoTitle}
Play trailer3:50
1 Video
99 Photos
  • Drama
  • Fantasy

The guests at an upper-class dinner party find themselves unable to leave.The guests at an upper-class dinner party find themselves unable to leave.The guests at an upper-class dinner party find themselves unable to leave.

IMDb RATING
8.0/10
33K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Luis Buñuel
  • Writers
    • Luis Buñuel(screenplay by)
    • Luis Alcoriza(story: Los Náufragos de la Calle de la Providencia)
  • Stars
    • Silvia Pinal
    • Jacqueline Andere
    • Enrique Rambal
Top credits
  • Director
    • Luis Buñuel
  • Writers
    • Luis Buñuel(screenplay by)
    • Luis Alcoriza(story: Los Náufragos de la Calle de la Providencia)
  • Stars
    • Silvia Pinal
    • Jacqueline Andere
    • Enrique Rambal
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 106User reviews
    • 77Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 4 wins & 3 nominations

    Videos1

    Tráiler [OV]
    Trailer 3:50
    Tráiler [OV]

    Photos99

    Jacqueline Andere, Enrique García Álvarez, and Silvia Pinal in El ángel exterminador (1962)
    César del Campo, Patricia de Morelos, and Silvia Pinal in El ángel exterminador (1962)
    Ofelia Montesco in El ángel exterminador (1962)
    El ángel exterminador (1962)
    El ángel exterminador (1962)
    El ángel exterminador (1962)
    El ángel exterminador (1962)
    El ángel exterminador (1962)
    Enrique García Álvarez in El ángel exterminador (1962)
    El ángel exterminador (1962)
    El ángel exterminador (1962)
    Lucy Gallardo, Xavier Loyá, and Enrique Rambal in El ángel exterminador (1962)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Silvia Pinal
    Silvia Pinal
    • Leticia 'La Valkiria'as Leticia 'La Valkiria'
    Jacqueline Andere
    Jacqueline Andere
    • Alicia de Rocas Alicia de Roc
    Enrique Rambal
    Enrique Rambal
    • Edmundo Nobileas Edmundo Nobile
    José Baviera
    José Baviera
    • Leandro Gomezas Leandro Gomez
    Augusto Benedico
    Augusto Benedico
    • Carlos Condeas Carlos Conde
    Luis Beristáin
    Luis Beristáin
    • Cristián Ugaldeas Cristián Ugalde
    • (as Luis Beristain)
    Antonio Bravo
    • Sergio Russellas Sergio Russell
    Claudio Brook
    Claudio Brook
    • Julioas Julio
    César del Campo
    César del Campo
    • Alvaroas Alvaro
    • (as Cesar Del Campo)
    Rosa Elena Durgel
    Rosa Elena Durgel
    • Silviaas Silvia
    Lucy Gallardo
    Lucy Gallardo
    • Lucía de Nobileas Lucía de Nobile
    Enrique García Álvarez
    Enrique García Álvarez
    • Alberto Rocas Alberto Roc
    • (as Enrique Garcia Alvarez)
    Ofelia Guilmáin
    Ofelia Guilmáin
    • Juana Avilaas Juana Avila
    • (as Ofelia Guilmain)
    Nadia Haro Oliva
    Nadia Haro Oliva
    • Ana Maynaras Ana Maynar
    Tito Junco
    Tito Junco
    • Raúlas Raúl
    Xavier Loyá
    Xavier Loyá
    • Francisco Avilaas Francisco Avila
    • (as Xavier Loya)
    Xavier Massé
    • Eduardoas Eduardo
    • (as Xavier Masse)
    Ofelia Montesco
    Ofelia Montesco
    • Beatrizas Beatriz
    • Director
      • Luis Buñuel
    • Writers
      • Luis Buñuel(screenplay by) (story: Los Náufragos de la Calle de la Providencia)
      • Luis Alcoriza(story: Los Náufragos de la Calle de la Providencia)
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
    • All cast & crew

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    Storyline

    Edit
    After a lavish dinner party, the guests find themselves mysteriously unable to leave the room... and over the next few days all the elaborate pretenses and facades that they've built up by virtue of their position in society collapse completely as they become reduced to living like animals... —Michael Brooke <michael@everyman.demon.co.uk>
    • surrealism
    • black comedy
    • class differences
    • social satire
    • comedy of manners
    • 83 more
    • Plot summary
    • Add synopsis
    • Taglines
      • The degeneration of high society!
    • Genres
      • Drama
      • Fantasy
    • Certificate
      • Not Rated
    • Parents guide

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Was banned in Russia because the idea of people not being allowed to "leave a party" was considered offensive and anti-government.
    • Goofs
      After the butler trips in the dining room, the lady of the house follows him into the kitchen. While they speak the boom mic can clearly be seen at the bottom of the screen, extending out from under a table.
    • Quotes

      Rita Ugalde: I believe the common people, the lower class people, are less sensitive to pain. Haven't you ever seen a wounded bull? Not a trace of pain.

      [Creo que la gente del pueblo, la gente baja, es menos sensible al dolor. ¿Usted ha visto un toro herido alguna vez? Impasible]

    • Alternate versions
      In the uncut print (featured on the Criterion DVD) the guests enter the mansion and go upstairs twice. Some versions omit the surrealistic second arrival.
    • Connections
      Edited into Histoire(s) du cinéma: Le contrôle de l'univers (1999)
    • Soundtracks
      Sonata No. 6
      (uncredited)

      Music by Pietro Domenico Paradisi

    User reviews106

    Review
    Top review
    10/10
    The Discreet Charm in México
    I discovered surrealist cinema as an adult. Of course, there are such scenes and images in many films, but I saw the first complete surrealist movie as a grown up. It was "Belle de jour", a film by Luis Buñuel, whose work I knew since watching his "Robinson Crusoe" in my childhood. Buñuel had gone a long way since 1928's "Un chien andalou", made in France. He had gone into exile during the Spanish Civil War, first to the United States and finally to México, where he spent the rest of his life. But he made films in Europe now and then, and had regained his status as one of the masters of world cinema. Although he did not think much of his Mexican motion pictures, his masterpiece "El ángel exterminador" is my favorite of all his films. He once complained that Mexican actors were not able to convey the spirit of the "haute bourgeoisie", but what he did not take into consideration was that, if he made a film in México about the rich, he was dealing with something else, called "creole oligarchies." And in this sense, this farce of the 1960s' Latin American "filthy rich" is most accurate. Moreover, with his usual affectionate treatment of the bourgeois (something he rarely did with clergy, female characters, or street urchins), he created a most believable funny portrait of the Latino rich people, who do not know what is their origin, who they should "pay tribute to", or where they are headed, unlike their European ancestors. Here, a group of those characters, born in México, gather for dinner after an opera performance, but when the time comes to leave the house of the Nobiles they cannot leave the room where they reunited for gossiping after meal. There is no apparent reason they cannot leave, but there they stay for days, going back to a primitive state in which their dearest "discreet charm" (euphemism, the rule of the game, as in Renoir's 1939 film) vanishes. And when they are set free, and go to a church to thank the Lord... well, Buñuel sure knew how to make fun of them, with situations verging on the fantastic and funny lines of incoherent, silly or ridiculous dialogue. A wonderful movie, which is always fun to watch again, especially in a double bill with another gem, the last one Buñuel made in México: "Simón del desierto."
    helpful•35
    19
    • EdgarST
    • Jun 25, 2006

    FAQ3

    • Why is this film called The Exterminating Angel?
    • What are the repetitions in the film, apart from the guests arriving twice?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • August 21, 1967 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • Mexico
    • Official site
      • Official site
    • Language
      • Spanish
    • Also known as
      • Andjeo unistenja
    • Filming locations
      • Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
    • Production company
      • Producciones Gustavo Alatriste
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross worldwide
      • $1,843
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 35 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White

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