These questions are 'out of order' because I typed out these thoughts immediately after watching the film, before the questions were posted. The question numbers that I put before each major paragraph refers to the question(s) that I thought best fit what I was getting at.
3) Why are there two actresses playing the same role?
The two Conchitas represent the two things that Mateo wants from Conchita but cannot have simultaneously: she cannot be the unbridled manifestation of sexual desire while maintaining the chastity that he finds so compelling. This double-standard is visible through Mateo when he first tries to wile Conchita into fulfilling his desires and later on when he kisses her hand affectionately after she tells him that she is a virgin. It is important to note that both of the Conchitas mentioned here are the ‘second’ Conchita, who clearly represents the more amorous side of the woman. This is the Conchita towards whom Meteo makes his first real advances, the Conchita he sees dancing, the only Cochinta he sees completely naked, and most importantly the Conchita who appears to be much more at ease with her sexuality than her other ‘half.’ This is also the Cochinta that Mateo takes out his aggression on, and the Conchita we see right before the last bomb explodes, ending the film and a severely detrimental relationship.
5) Why is Mateo telling the story? Why a flashback?
It is crucial that Meteo is telling the story because the listeners are better permitted to see Conchita through Mateo’s eyes. In one of the most pivotal scenes of the film, Conchita tells Mateo that he does not understand women: what is certain is that he clearly does not understand Conchita, or he would not constantly be seeing only one of her two ‘halves,’ but the ‘real’ Conchita. This is why the story is told through Mateo’s perspective, because it is the only way to portray Mateo’s limited knowledge of Conchita. Bunuel does not want the story to be told from an objective point of view because such a telling would allow the audience a better understanding of Conchita’s character. The real Conchita remains a mystery to both Meteo and the audience from beginning to end. The conflict between Conchita and Mateo arises due to the fact that Mateo cannot see the whole person. I find it ironic that any time that Conchita acts in one of her two extremes, either extremely amorous or extremely chaste, Mateo is not satisfied. Yet, Meteo still refuses to see Conchita in any light other than one of these two extremes. Overall, I interpreted this as a commentary on an unrealistic double standard.
2, 4) Why are there so many references to terrorism?
A terrorists aim is to affect dramatic change based on a biased perspective by terrorizing the masses: in this light, terrorism may be seen as an extension of Mateo and Conchita’s relationship. In the closing scene, a reporter is commenting on the two groups of politically extreme terrorists (the far-rights and the far-lefts) who are at war with one another – this is similar to how Conchita’s two extreme halves are fighting with each other. There are also many references to Meteo ‘killing’ Conchita when he is discussing his attempts to get her to conform to his desires: first, there is the scene in which he is trying to ‘buy’ her through her mother, in which a mouse is caught and killed in a trap; then, the scene in the restaurant where a fly is caught in Mateo’s glass when he is talking about possessing women. Both of these scenes suggest the theme of death as a result of possession and captivity, foreshadowing the end of the film, at which point Mateo and Conchita are finally ‘together’ out in the open immediately preceding the final bombing of the film.
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