The Exterminating Angel (1962)

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

Director:

Luis Buñuel

Writers:

Luis Buñuel (screenplay by), Luis Alcoriza (story by)

Stars:

Silvia Pinal, Jacqueline Andere, Enrique Rambal

4 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Silvia Pinal	...	Leticia 'La Valkiria'
Jacqueline Andere	...	Alicia de Roc
José Baviera	...	Leandro Gomez (as Jose Baviera)
Augusto Benedico	...	Carlos Conde
Luis Beristáin	...	Cristián Ugalde (as Luis Beristain)
Antonio Bravo	...	Sergio Russell
Claudio Brook	...	Julio
César del Campo	...	Alvaro (as Cesar Del Campo)
Rosa Elena Durgel	...	Silvia
Lucy Gallardo	...	Lucía de Nobile
Enrique García Álvarez	...	Alberto Roc (as Enrique Garcia Alvarez)
Ofelia Guilmáin	...	Juana Avila (as Ofelia Guilmain)
Nadia Haro Oliva	...	Ana Maynar
Tito Junco	...	Raúl
Xavier Loyá	...	Francisco Avila (as Xavier Loya)

Storyline

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...

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Plot Keywords:

surrealism | black comedy | class differences | social satire | symbolism | 

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Taglines:

Luis Bunuel's controversial and award-winning film

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Genres:

Drama | Fantasy

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

Often referenced in Woody Allen's films.

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Goofs

After one of the women exits an adjoining room, she seemingly details a surrealist toilet experience to the other women, upon which they detail theirs. If the adjoining room is truly a bathroom (which would make sense since there is no indication in the film of any hygiene problems related to urination or defecation), it should have been explained why the characters could not simply drink the water from the wash basin there and instead had to resort to breaking a pipe.

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Quotes

Carlos Conde; Doctor: The most important thing is to keep our heads. There's nothing worse than panic. This situation can't go on indefinitely. We're not under some spell. This isn't some sorcerer's castle. Only by dispassionate analysis can we get to the bottom of our inaction.

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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.

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Connections

References The Rules of the Game (1939)

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Soundtracks

Waltz in E minor
(uncredited)
Music by Frédéric Chopin

User Reviews

An explanation? There is none.

That was what Luis Bunuel used to answer when asked about the meaning of one of his least accessible works.Much less linear than "Viridiana" -featuring the same actress Silvia Pinal-which precedes it,"El Angel exterminador" can be looked upon as an allegory.We find a lot of permanent features of the Bunuel canon in it though.

The fact that the guests cannot leave the luxury house will find an equivalent in "le charme discret de la bourgeoisie"(1972) when the five characters cannot have a good meal at the restaurant;the guests turning like lions in a cage echo to this strange picture of the five heroes of "charme discret" walking on an endless road.

This is the kind of movie that will have as many interpretations as there are users writing about it.And Bunuel would probably be the first to say that anyone is allowed to see his movie as he feels it in his soul -which is a word he would not certainly approve of though.

Another put-down of the bourgeoisie ,probably;As Charlie Chaplin would not have let an ice-cream fall on a poor woman's dress,Bunuel's wholesale massacre concerns the rich,the well-to-do.The house may be a metaphor for their world which they want to keep exactly as it is.But Bunuel soon scratches the varnish and after long hours,his powerful bourgeois are just men and rather hateful selfish cowards -the scene when they rush to get a glass of water.And as they cannot rely on themselves and on their pals,the only assistance can only come from above:so they promise God they will chant Te Deums, they will go to Lourdes and buy a washable rubber Virgin (sic).Surrealist pictures,which had been absent since "cela s'appelle l'aurore" (1955) come back for a while during one night,and they mainly deal with religion and heaven.The mystery of the night hours will come back in "le fantôme de la liberté" (1974)

The last pictures bring the missing link :the army ,shooting people (talking about a revolution?) ,as the bourgeois keep on singing(?) and praying(?)in the cathedral.

Recommended?Everything Bunuel did is crying to be watched.

Details

Country:

Mexico

Language:

Spanish

Release Date:

21 August 1967 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Exterminating Angel

Filming Locations:

Mexico

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,843

Company Credits

Production Co:

Barcino Films, Producciones Gustavo Alatriste, Gustavo Alatriste

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA High Fidelity)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1