Movie Title: The Exterminating Angel
First Watch / Repeat Viewing
Running Time: 1 hr. 35 min.
Rated: Not Rated
Who did I watch with?: Flying Solo
Where did I watch it?: Home
Review:
The Exterminating Angel is a masterpiece from the original David Lynch, Luis Bunuel. Bunuel’s plot is heavily influenced by Jean-Paul Sartre’s play No Exit which is one of my favorite plays. After attending an opera, a rich man invites his friends back to his mansion for a sumptuous meal to close out the evening. The party goes well into the night and the servants flee like rats from a burning building. When the party reaches its crescendo in the wee hours of the morning the guests find that an unknown supernatural force is presenting them from leaving and preventing others from entering the building.
There is a lot of surrealist elements in the movie and a lot of Christ imagery. There are herds of lambs that live in and around the mansion. There are frequent promises of religious observation should they be saved from their plight. In the end, religion does not save them. The interactions between the cast are great especially as the togetherness drives them further and further into savagery and desperation.
Verdict:
As Sartre would have said, hell is other people. See it.
Tomorrow’s Movie: V for Vendetta (2005)
