The Phantom of Liberty (1974)
A film by Luis Buņuel
This wondrous and admirable picture begins with Napoleon's troops invading Toledo, Spain in 1808, where a group (including Buņuel) are facing a firing squad. Then an officer tries to kiss a stone statue lady and is struck by an adjacent statue's arm. The film then moves to present day France, and a man giving postcards to children, who he tells, "don't show them to adults." You see the postcards contain the shocking images of structural landmarks.
The short episodes begin and disappear quickly, with one of the characters exiting a scene, and leading off into another different location. The viewer doesn't have long to think, and is suddenly thrown into a new unusual segment. Other memorable scenes include one where guests sit on toilets at a dinner table, then ask to go to a small cubicle to eat on their own. One where a sniper shoots many people, and when tried in court and found guilty, is sentenced to death. His handcuffs are then removed by police, who shake his hand, and outside a gathering of people ask for his autograph.
Other irrational scenes include a man who has cancer and is given a cigarette by his doctor. Monks that gamble, drink and smoke. The Army hunting foxes in tanks. An ostrich walks through a man's bedroom, and a postman on a bicycle delivers his mail to his bed.
But my favourite scene is when a couple are told to go to their daughter's school because she has vanished. They arrive there and find her in class, and the school register is read out, and the little girl replies. Then they take her to the police station. The police sergeant then questions the young girl about her height, weight, and so on, then calls an officer in and tells him to look all over the city for this girl. The officer then replies, "Can I take her with me?". Marvellous. It is all quite superb. You really have to see this picture and allow it to soak into you, preferably after several viewings of the film. A picture made with utter abandon and liberty. Classic Buņuel. One of his very best.
"The Phantom Of Liberty is a tour de force, a triumph by a director confronting almost impossible complications and contradictions and mastering them." - Roger Ebert
"A magnificent film... one of Buņuel's masterpieces." - Tom Milne, Sight and Sound
Buņuel (on the left) facing the firing squad
Leave my partner alone!
"Don't show these photos to adults!"
"Disgusting!"
Your mail, sir
Looks like an ostrich in my bedroom
"Excuse me, have you seen any Foxes?"
"I'm vile! I'm a leper!"
It's time for erm... dinner
"You've got cancer. Cigarette?"
"Inspector. I want you to search all over Paris for this girl."
"Can I take her with me?"
I like to shoot people from this building
You are sentenced to death. Well done.
"Can we have your autograph please?"
Aargh. People are in the zoo & want to see me
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
