El ángel exterminador
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| El ángel exterminador | |
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 El ángel exterminador poster |
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| Directed by | Luis Buñuel |
| Produced by | Gustavo Alatriste |
| Written by | Luis Buñuel - Luis Alcoriza |
| Starring | Silvia Pinal - Enrique Rambal |
| Distributed by | Gustavo Alatriste |
| Release date(s) | 1962 |
| Running time | 93 min. |
| Language | Spanish |
| Budget | - |
| IMDb profile | |
El ángel exterminador ("The exterminating angel") is the second of the three movies that were produced by Luis Buñuel, starring Silvia Pinal, and produced by her husband Gustavo Alatriste. It was produced after the success of Viridiana.
It is considered by the Mexican film critics as the 16th best film of the Mexican cinema and one of the best 1000 films by the New York Times.
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[edit] Buñuel/Alatriste/Pinal trilogy
[edit] Awards
This film received the FIPRESCI award of the international critics and the Screenwriters Guild at Cannes in 1962.
[edit] Plot
During a formal dinner party at the home of Señor Nobile and his wife, Lucia, the servants unaccountably leave their posts until only the major-domo is left. After dinner the guests adjourn to the music room, where one of the women plays a piano sonata. Later, instead of leaving, the guests remove their jackets, loosen their gowns, and settle down for the night.
By morning it is apparent that for some inexplicable reason, they are trapped in the room. Days pass, and their plight intensifies; they become quarrelsome, hostile, and hysterical. One of the guests, Russell, dies and his body is placed in a large cupboard; Béatriz and Eduardo, a young couple about to be married, lock themselves in a closet and commit suicide; a sheep is slaughtered and roasted on a fire made from floorboards; the host gives his secret supply of morphine to Leonora, whose physician, another guest, reveals to others that she is dying of cancer, but the drugs are stolen by Francisco and Juana, an incestuous brother and sister; and Ana, a practitioner of witchcraft, invokes the demons of hell while lapsing into feverish hallucinations.
Eventually, Raúl suggests that Nobile is responsible for their predicament and that he must be sacrificed. As Nobile offers to take his own life, Letitia sees that they are all in the same positions as when their plight began. Obeying her instructions, they retrace their conversation and movements and discover that they are free to leave the room. To celebrate their salvation, the guests attend mass at the cathedral. When the service is over, they find that they, along with the priest and the entire congregation, are once again trapped. The situation in the church provokes a riot on the streets and the military apparently take over the town.
[edit] Full cast
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[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- The list of the 1000 best movies of all time by The New York Times.
- (Spanish) Profile at the ITESM site of Mexican cinema.
- Profile on the New York Times.
- Profile at Cannes film festival.
 Cinema of Mexico |
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Actors • Directors • Films A-Z • Chronology of films • Cinematographers • Editors • Producers • Screenwriters • |
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