"We so often find ourselves at complicated crossroads which lead to other crossroads, to ever more fantastic labyrinths. Somehow we must choose a path."
Luis Buñuel was a surrealist who is regarded as one of the most influential and iconoclastic directors of all time. Born in Spain, he moved to Paris in the mid-20's and made a big splash with the French Surrealists with Un Chien Andalou, a short film made in collaboration with Salvador Dali. His second work was banned for being an attack on Catholicism, a recurring theme in his oeuvre. Like many artists, Buñuel left Spain during the Spanish Civil War and after a brief period in the U.S. took up residence in Mexico, where he would make 20 films over the next 20 years. His most acclaimed period would come in the final decade of his career, in a return to Europe with films made mostly in France.
The Phantom of Liberty was Buñuel's penultimate film, written with his frequent collaborator Jean-Claude Carrière. The free-form style uses an episodic format inspired by dreams had by the two men, as well as personal recollections from Buñuel's entire life. Instead of an interlocking narrative, each storyline is interrupted by the next with limited connective elements.
The surrealism here comes not so much from fantastic imagery but a series of clever and absurdist sight gags, the film best described as a comedy of manners. While there is no story in a normal sense, the film retains Buñuel's critique of bourgeois society and its rituals, religious hypocrisy, and other various institutions. Thematically the film also deals with (in Buñuel's own words): "the search for truth and the need to abandon the truth as soon as you have found it", "the importance of coincidence", and "the essential mystery of all things".
Despite a reputation for having little contact with his actors and offer them next to nothing in terms of direction, Buñuel worked with many stars of the French New Wave, and in this film roles were played by Michel Piccoli, Michael Lonsdale, Jean-Claude Brialy, and Jean Rochefort. Italian actress Monica Vitti (a favorite of Michelangelo Antonioni) also appears.
Running time is approx. 100 minutes.
No comments:
Post a Comment