The Exterminating Angel2026-02-22
Toronto, ON
Familiar Buñuel territory for me at this point, but I particularly liked how it came full circle at the end there. After spending most of the runtime dunking on the frivolity of the rich, standing by while all their conventions and mannerisms crumble away, he still found a way to go after the Catholic Church. Calling them out as sheep for good measure. Fascinating how it operates without any logical reasoning — never seen anything quite like that, even from Buñuel. And overall, probably the most accessible and dissectible of his works I've seen, alongside Viridiana.
Watched at the TIFF Lightbox. My final screening of the Buñuel retro. And funnily enough, the only one that was on my watchlist prior to the retro. Got to see 10 of films over the last couple weeks. Main takeaway here being that Buñuel truly was a generational hater and shit disturber. Each film in this retro packed a punch that would piss off at least one group of people. And it's remarkable seeing this fire extend through a number of different contexts, from his early silent days in France, to a stint in Mexico, and then back to France to wrap things up. I do think his later French films are my favourites, mostly because it feels like he was giving himself more room to experiment. Not resting on the laurels of his success, but continuously finding new ways to provoke and challenge the status quo.
Watched at the TIFF Lightbox. My final screening of the Buñuel retro. And funnily enough, the only one that was on my watchlist prior to the retro. Got to see 10 of films over the last couple weeks. Main takeaway here being that Buñuel truly was a generational hater and shit disturber. Each film in this retro packed a punch that would piss off at least one group of people. And it's remarkable seeing this fire extend through a number of different contexts, from his early silent days in France, to a stint in Mexico, and then back to France to wrap things up. I do think his later French films are my favourites, mostly because it feels like he was giving himself more room to experiment. Not resting on the laurels of his success, but continuously finding new ways to provoke and challenge the status quo.