CINEMATIC Review

THE EXTERMINATING ANGEL   *** 1/2

Luis Buñuel

1962

IDEA:   After dinner with friends and acquaintances, a group of upper class people find themselves suddenly unable to leave the room.

BLURB:   Weird, absorbing surrealist fantasy that transforms social and psychological misgivings into feverish physical ones. Taking down the languorous self-absorption of the upper class and the often irrational contraption of religion, Buñuel here mines some of his wickedest absurdities, reveling in the lethargic indifference of a group of bourgeoisie friends who suddenly find themselves unable to go home after dinner. While the socialites wither away like sweaty jungle animals in their confined space, they search meanderingly for a trace of narrative, a hint of confirmation in the madness. So do we, in fact, and so de we realize the film isn’t just about filthy rich people or class division, but about something more universal: our self-defeating rituals, our unfocused mindsets, and our inability to do something as simple as move.