In The Exterminating Angel, before the guests become trapped, they’re already behaving like animals. They are making passes at each other, flirting with everyone around. These animalistic desires are taken to the extreme when they’re all trapped and asleep, when an older man gropes the women around, and ends with two lovers dying in a closet, together. Buñuel says, “Eroticism is a diabolic pleasure that is related to death and rotting flesh.”

In “Objects of Desire,” Buñuel talks about why he didn’t make these characters working class. He says they would’ve found a solution, and that he didn’t want to idealize the people. The exclusion of working class characters is both literal and social, but there is one exception: the butler. However, in the film, the working characters either all exit or get fired. This, plus the repetition, makes me think about how hard it is to achieve this level of wealth if you weren’t born into it, but also about exile itself.

The butler being “a bourgeois at heart” is explored in many films, and it’s captivating to see how Buñuel did it. If the lower class is less sensible (as these characters say), what does it mean for Claudio Brook’s character? He is loyal to the very thing that oppresses him. Him being trapped with them is somehow more mental. His identification with his bosses is at his own expense.

The figure of the Valkyrie keeps standing out to me, especially when thinking about the churches in this film and how people keep bringing up her ‘virginity.’ These purity concepts are also tied to religion and are a great critique. Purity culture sustains class and immoral moral hierarchies (also explored in L’Age d’Or). In the end, even the Valkyrie returns to the church. Religious morality and submission don’t offer redemption. The trap being repeated can also be seen as an instance of history repeating itself.

After this film, I also found it very interesting to compare how other filmmakers framed their critiques of Francoist Spain. This film is darker than something Almodóvar would’ve done in his early career, where he criticizes the same things, but almost in a John Waters fashion. I think I’m more open to seeing this Spanish anarchist spirit Buñuel has mentioned in a lot of interviews.
Last semester, I wrote about the Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie and Triangle of Sadness, so it was very interesting to see the clip from the cruise again, and also compared to a new film.