Le fantôme de la liberté (1974)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Luis Buñuel

Writers:

Luis Buñuel (writer)
Jean-Claude Carrière (writer)

Release Date:

27 October 1974 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

One of Luis Bunuel's most free-form and purely Surrealist films, consisting of a series of only vaguely related episodes - most famously...

Plot Keywords:

Dinner | Table | Bizarre | Satire | Photograph

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Adriana Asti	...	La dame en noir et la soeur du premier préfet / Prefect's Sister
Julien Bertheau	...	Le premier préfet de police / First Prefect
Jean-Claude Brialy	...	Foucauld / Mr. Foucauld
Adolfo Celi	...	Le docteur de Legendre / Doctor Pasolini
Paul Frankeur	...	L'aubergiste / Innkeeper
Michael Lonsdale	...	Le chapelier / Hatter
Pierre Maguelon	...	Gérard, le gendarme / Policeman
François Maistre	...	Le professeur des gendarmes / Professor
Hélène Perdrière	...	La vieille tante / Aunt
Michel Piccoli	...	Le second préfet de police / Second Prefect
Claude Piéplu	...	Le commissaire de police / Commissioner
Jean Rochefort	...	Legendre / Mr. Legendre
Bernard Verley	...	Le capitaine des dragons / Judge
Milena Vukotic	...	L'infirmière / Nurse
Monica Vitti	...	Mme Foucaud / Mrs. Foucauld

Also Known As:

Il fantasma della libertà (Italy)
The Phantom of Liberty
The Specter of Freedom

Runtime:

USA:104 min | Argentina:104 min | West Germany:103 min

Country:

Italy | France

Language:

French

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Singapore:M18 | Ireland:15 | West Germany:16 (f) | Austria:16 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R

Company:

Euro International Film (EIA)

Trivia:

The title is a reference to "The Communist Manifesto" which in English begins: "A spectre is stalking Europe, the spectre of Communism." The French translation known to Buñuel translated "spectre" as "fantome". So the title can be seen as a dig at the "Bourgeois" mentality which fears freedom, and also a sideswipe at the rather straightjacketed Communist parties of the time.

Quotes:

Le docteur de Legendre/Doctor Pasolini: You have cancer of the liver.
Legendre/Mr. Legendre: Cancer? Me?
Le docteur de Legendre/Doctor Pasolini: It's in a fairly advanced state. But today, you know, these things... Cigarette?

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Zomergasten: (#17.2)" (2004)

Liberty is a phantom and Bunuel shows why

This is one the great comedies but it's not really a laugh out loud satire. The series of barely interlocking sketches really break down your senses of what you expect from movies. My favorite bits are when a little girl goes along with her parents to the police station to report that she has been missing for some time and when the military is brought into a zoo to keep the people away from the animals. The look on the face of an ostrich almost seems to be one of relief. People can read deeply into the messages of the stories or can just be taken for the fun (one might almost say hip) paradoxes of society. I think Bunuel wants to show that complete freedom is impossible because even if you are willing to detach from everybody and everything, you still have your own inner-nature to answer to. **** out of ****