What happens when a lavish dinner party refuses to end? Mike is joined by filmmaker Miguel Llansó (Crumbs, Jesus Shows You the Way to the Highway) and critic Rob St. Mary to unpack the surreal social satire of Luis Buñuel's The Exterminating Ange (1962). In this sharp and strange masterwork, a group of upper-crust guests find themselves mysteriously unable to leave a post-opera gathering—days pass, civility erodes, and Buñuel’s absurdist lens skewers class, ritual, and the thin veneer of order.
From sheep in the parlor to the creeping dread of inaction, we discuss the film’s dream logic, religious and political interpretations, and its place in Buñuel’s legendary career. Whether you’re trapped by tradition, status, or just polite company, The Exterminating Angel remains one of cinema’s most biting allegories—and we’re not letting you leave until we’ve talked it through.
We conclude French Month with Luis Buñuel's 1930 film, L’Age D’Or. Released in the wake of the sound revolution, the film straddles the line between silence and sound presenting a series of stories that represent the five prismatic segments of a scorpion’s tail.
We’re wrapping up “Frenchuary” with a look at Luis Buñuel's Belle de Jour. Based on the 1928 novel by Joseph Kessel, the film was released in 1967 and stars Catherine Deneuve as our titular belle. That’s the name she’s given when the normally straight-laced Severine secretly lives out her submissive fantasies at a Paris brothel.... Or does she?
Samm Deighan joins Mike to discuss the dream-like film as well as the "sequel" and several other adaptions of Kessel's story.
We round out 2013 with coverage of our favorite films. This week, Rob picks The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, the surrealist masterpiece by director Luis Buñuel where a group of upper crust couples can't seem to ever finish a dinner party.
Drink:
“The day before your guests arrive, put all the ingredients — glasses, gin, and shaker — in the refrigerator. Use a thermometer to make sure the ice is about twenty degrees below zero (centigrade). Don't take anything out until your friends arrive; then pour a few drops of Noilly Prat and half a demitasse spoon of Angostura bitters over the ice. Shake it, then pour it out, keeping only the ice, which retains a faint taste of both. Then pour straight gin over the ice, shake it again, and serve.
The making of a dry martini should resemble the Immaculate Conception, for, as Saint Thomas Aquinas once noted, the generative power of the Holy Ghost pierced the Virgin's hymen "like a ray of sunlight through a window — leaving it unbroken." (from “My Last Sigh”) Read more at Dangerous Minds
Guest Co-Hosts: Rob St. Mary, Miguel Llanso
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Special Guests: John Baxter, Jean-Claude Carrière