[Bunuel talks about repetition in movies]

Domenic 2022-06-13 20:10:35

[Bunuel on Repetition in Film] I think I was the first person to use this method in a film. In "Angel of Destruction", I repeated the two actions of the guests entering the luxurious residence of Novi Lai and ascending the stairs leading to the top floor. The second time is upside down, other than that, there are no other changes. After the copy was made, the photographer Gabriel Figueroa came to me: "The copy is terrible. There must be some repetitions, the editor must have made a mistake." I replied, "Gaff Liel, I always do the editing myself. You and I did it together, and you know the second time we switched degrees, it was a deliberate repetition." "Oh, so it was." But he really was terrified.

Later, I saw Bergman use the same repetition technique in "Masquerade." Two women, one a nurse and the other a patient. The camera is fixed, the nurse tells the story with her back to the camera, and after a few minutes, she is finished, the camera turns: the nurse is facing the camera and the female patient is facing away, and the same story is told again.

I like repetition, it can create a hypnotic effect. I've used repetition in films after The Golden Age. It is used extensively in "Angel of Destruction". ...there are about twenty repetitions throughout the film, some of which are less obvious. The structure of the film itself is built on repetition. The structure is a recurring situation that repeats the actions done during the piano performance, which was previously designed. But those repetitions of interludes in the film are improvisations during the shooting.

Until the end of the film, the people in the play are not free. Freedom is only momentary, siege will keep coming, forever. They will go back to their original state and repeat the same action. They escaped from the Novilai house but were trapped in the church again.

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Extended Reading

The Exterminating Angel quotes

  • Raúl: You led us into this trap. You made us the butt of this cruel joke.

    Edmundo Nobile: I have, my friend? By inviting you to dinner? By opening my doors to you?

    Raúl: Exactly. You called us one by one to come for dinner after the opera. Such a cordial invitation. "I'd be honored if you would..." et cetera. We could have been sound asleep at home or in some brothel, instead of here.

  • Sergio Russell: I'm happy that I won't see the extermination.