Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		4.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		5.0

The Exterminating Angel Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 30, 2024

Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of the Nothing is Sacred: Three Heresies by Luis Buñuel set from Radiance Films.

The filmography of Luis Buñuel is liberally sprinkled with enough classics that it might be a challenging assignment to aggregate a "greatest hits" collection, but in terms of Buñuel's early to mid sixties output, Radiance is offering fans two of Buñuel's most celebrated features, with a third somewhat shorter offering that is probably not quite as well known, but which should provide considerable interest along with the two better known works. Buñuel's anarchic spirit is alive and well in all three films, and it's perhaps salient to note that the influence of the director in general and at least one of these films in particular continues to be felt throughout our own more or less current cultural zeitgeist, as evidenced by the fact that (as weird as it admittedly sounds) the late Stephen Sondheim kinda sorta adapted both The Exterminating Angel and the at least somewhat linked The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie for his final (arguably incomplete) musical Here We Are. On the other end of the zeitgeist spectrum, though, is the kind of amazing fact that as of the writing of this review Viridiana has yet to have a Region A Blu-ray release (the check discs sent to me for purposes of the reviews of the films in this set were all region free).

If Viridiana offers a perhaps surprisingly clear and concise chronological narrative, The Exterminating Angel may be one of the better examples of a certain "timeless" quality that suffuses many Buñuel efforts, if "timeless" in this particular instance refers not just to a long lasting impact, but frankly an inability to coherently define any chronology whatsoever. As is discussed in both supplements on this disc as well as a seemingly limitless supply of commentary on this film, there's a bizarre disjunctive quality to Buñuel's approach where little snippets may be repeated, almost willy nilly, all within a context that may look forward in some ways to The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie , at least insofar as both films depict dinner parties as some sort of quasi-religious ritual. But The Exterminating Angel also might be jokingly thought of as looking back to Sartre's No Exit, at least insofar as this film, like the famous 1944 existentialist satire, proffers a group of people trapped in a room which may be a metaphor for hell, or maybe in this instance, purgatory.

For all of the newsprint and/or bandwidth that has been utilized and/or expended in trying to come to terms with the "trapped dinner party" aspect of the film, it may be in the closing moments of The Exterminating Angel that Buñuel makes some of his most piquant commentary, as a bunch of hoity toity types who thought they were all but done for suddenly finds some seeming salvation, only to have Buñuel pull the rug out from under them again, albeit now within the context of religiosity. That particular sleight of hand may lead some to reasonably assume Buñuel is laughing at "sudden faith" or even the perception that "faith" does anything at all at least as hard as he does in the "class conflict" elements between patrician banquet attendees and those waiting on them.

The Exterminating Angel Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Exterminating Angel is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Radiance Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.33:1. While Radiance provided check discs for purposes of this review, I was able to secure a retail version and so can reproduce verbiage from Radiance's insert booklet about the transfer (Radiance lumps all three films together on its page devoted to the transfers):

Viridiana and Simon of the Desert were scanned in 4K from the original camera negatives and restored in 4K by Mercury Films in Madrid, Spain. Additional colour correction was applied to Viridiana by Radiance Films in 2024.

The Exterminating Angel was scanned in 4K from the original camera negative by Mercury Films in Madrid, Spain. The film was restored by Radiance Films at Heavenly Movie Corp in 2024. Thousands of instances of dirt, dust, stains and tears were removed and dozens of shots stabilised to attentuate mechanical jitter. The film was graded by Stephen C. Horne.

All three films are presented with their original uncompressed PCM mono soundtracks.

This is the sole film in this set that has had a prior 1080 release, a Region A offering from Criterion that according to Svet Atanasov's review was sourced from a duplicate negative. I don't have that Criterion release in my collection to do a side by side comparison, but judging solely by screenshots, while the differences may be rather subtle between the two releases, it certainly looks to me that this transfer offers a somewhat better accounting of gray scale, with what is arguably a just slightly darker look than the Criterion version. Detail levels are typically excellent, and grain resolves naturally throughout. There are still a few minor remnants of age related wear and tear, but nothing I'd personally term overly concerning.

The Exterminating Angel Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Exterminating Angel features LPCM 2.0 Mono audio. While the sacred organ and choral music starts right off the bat in this film, unlike the slight pause of ostensible "silence" at the beginning of Viridiana , there's something quite similar to that film's background noise and hiss, along with some actual pops this time, that are apparent during the opening few seconds. Hiss is undeniably present throughout a lot of the presentation and can arguably slightly overwhelm some of the quieter moments. That said, while boxy and a bit worn sounding at times, dialogue is presented without any major issues. Optional English subtitles are available.

The Exterminating Angel Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Alex Cox (HD; 9:39) offers his thoughts on Buñuel and the film in this newly produced piece. Cox makes a somewhat comical "entrance" here, spinning around on his recliner to introduce himself.


• A Mexican Buñuel (HD; 55:45) is a 1997 documentary with some interesting interviews with Bunuel and Silvia Pinal. Subtitled in English.


• Guillermo del Toro (HD; 18:55) offers his thoughts on Buñuel and the film, but does not spin around on a recliner.


• Dinner and Other Rituals (HD; 16:52) is a fun look by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas at a recurrent feature in Buñuel's films.


• Behind the Scenes Gallery (HD)

The Exterminating Angel Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Exterminating Angel may be one of Buñuel's more intentionally opaque efforts, but that may be why it has continued to have so much influence. Technical merits are generally solid (video more than audio), and the supplements very enjoyable and informative. Highly recommended.