This wondrous and admirable picture begins with Napoleon's troops invading Toledo, Spain in 1808, where a group (including Bu?uel) 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.Also, if you think that sounds absurd, then check these other ones out:
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 Bu?uel. 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 Bu?uel's masterpieces." - Tom Milne, Sight and Sound
Un Chien Andalou
L'Age D'Or
The Exterminating Angel
Simon of the Desert
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
That Obscure Object of Desire
