The Phantom of Liberty

Sep 10, 1974

1h 44m

★ 7.5

Luis Bunuel's kinkiest comedy.

Overview

This Surrealist film, with a title referencing the Communist Manifesto, strings together short incidents based on the life of director Luis Buñuel. Presented as chance encounters, these loosely related, intersecting situations, all without a consistent protagonist, reach from the 19th century to the 1970s. Touching briefly on subjects such as execution, pedophilia, incest, and sex, the film features an array of characters, including a sick father and incompetent police officers.

Genres

Comedy

Production Companies

Greenwich Film Production

The Phantom of Liberty Trailers

Cast

Mr. Foucault

Jean-Claude Brialy

The Lady in Black, the Sister of the First Prefect

Adriana Asti

The Nurse

Milena Vukotić

Mrs. Foucault

Monica Vitti

Mr. Legendre

Jean Rochefort

The Second Police Prefect

Michel Piccoli

The Doctor

Adolfo Celi

The Commissioner

Claude Piéplu

The Innkeeper

Paul Frankeur

The Policeman

Pierre Maguelon

The Professor

François Maistre

Mrs. Calmette

Marie-France Pisier

On an otherwise normal day, Étienne, a happily married man and a good father, sees something that stops him dead in his tracks: a gorgeous woman in a billowing red dress. Long after she has left his vision, her memory continues to haunt his mind. He falls instantly in love with her and tries everything to get to know her better. Helping Étienne snare his elusive lady in red are his three bumbling buddies, which all have secret affairs and/or cheat on their wives.

6.6

Zazie dans le Métro

Oct 28, 1960

A brash and precocious ten-year-old comes to Paris for a whirlwind weekend with her rakish uncle.

6.1

Airplane II: The Sequel

Dec 10, 1982

A faulty computer causes a passenger space shuttle to head straight for the sun, and man-with-a-past Ted Striker must save the day and get the shuttle back on track – again – all the while trying to patch up his relationship with Elaine.

6.3

Taxi 2

Mar 25, 2000

A cabdriver and a cop race to Paris to rescue a love interest and the Japanese minister of defense from kidnappers.

7.4

Irma la Douce

Jan 30, 1963

When a recently fired policeman falls in love with a French prostitute, he doesn't want her to be with other men, so he creates an alter-ego in order to become her only customer.

7.0

Monsieur Batignole

Mar 6, 2002

In 1942, in an occupied Paris, the apolitical grocer Edmond Batignole lives with his wife and daughter in a small apartment in the building of his grocery. When his future son-in-law and collaborator of the German Pierre-Jean Lamour calls the Nazis to arrest the Jewish Bernstein family, they move to the confiscated apartment. Some days later, the young Simon Bernstein escapes from the Germans and comes to his former home. When Batignole finds him, he feels sorry for the boy and lodges him, hiding Simon from Pierre-Jean and also from his wife. Later, two cousins of Simon meet him in the cellar of the grocery. When Pierre-Jean finds the children, Batignole decides to travel with the children to Switzerland.

7.0

An American in Paris

Sep 26, 1951

Jerry Mulligan is an exuberant American expatriate in Paris trying to make a reputation as a painter. His friend Adam is a struggling concert pianist who's a long time associate of a famous French singer, Henri Baurel. A lonely society woman, Milo Roberts, takes Jerry under her wing and supports him, but is interested in more than his art.

4.1

Bonsoir

Jan 19, 1994

Having first lost his wife then his job as a tweed tailor, Alex Ponttin has devised a novel way to keep himself in touch with society. He admits himself into people's homes, by pretending to be a relative or an official, and persuading his victims to give him a night's free board: He finds at first a lunch at the horrible couple Dumont, where a thief follows him for a robbery. Alex spent an evening in front of TV at Marie, mother of seven children. He runs from Marie to find an evening and a new bed at the home of charming but shy lesbian Caroline and her funny lover Gloria. To save her inheritance, Caroline - accused for her homosexuality by her horrible sister Catherine - tells her aunt Amélie, that Gloria is her secretary and Alex her lover. So Alex has to present himself nude in Caroline's bed. He saves Carolines inheritance. The police officers investigating the case are so terminally stupid that Alex has little chance of being arrested.

7.0

Animal House

Jul 28, 1978

At a 1962 College, Dean Vernon Wormer is determined to expel the entire Delta Tau Chi Fraternity, but those troublemakers have other plans for him.

6.5

Smokin' Aces

Dec 9, 2006

When a Las Vegas performer-turned-snitch named Buddy Israel decides to turn state's evidence and testify against the mob, it seems that a whole lot of people would like to make sure he's no longer breathing.

7.5

Band of Outsiders

Aug 5, 1964

Cinephile slackers Franz and Arthur spend their days mimicking the antiheroes of Hollywood noirs and Westerns while pursuing the lovely Odile. The misfit trio upends convention at every turn, be it through choreographed dances in cafés or frolicsome romps through the Louvre. Eventually, their romantic view of outlaws pushes them to plan their own heist, but their inexperience may send them out in a blaze of glory -- which could be just what they want.

6.1

Labyrinth of Passion

Sep 29, 1982

An array of outrageous people, including a desperate nymphomaniac and a terrorist with an acute sense of smell, seek love and happiness in Madrid.

7.9

Don't Look Now... We're Being Shot At!

Dec 8, 1966

During World War II, two French civilians and a downed British Bomber Crew set out from Paris to cross the demarcation line between Nazi-occupied Northern France and the South. From there they will be able to escape to England. First, they must avoid German troops – and the consequences of their own blunders.

7.3

I Always Wanted to Be a Gangster

Mar 26, 2008

Told in four vignettes, this existential comedy relates the exploits of four aspiring criminals who hope to improve their lot, but find that they might not have what it takes for a life of crime.

5.3

Top of the Food Chain

Sep 11, 1999

An isolated Canadian town (populated by the weirdest group of people this side of Saturn) has seen its share of problems. First the nut factory closed, then the CATV antenna stopped broadcasting, and now something is gruesomely devouring the townsfolk! Can visiting atomic scientist (and expert on "cool fusion") Dr. Karel Lamonte solve the mystery before everyone disappears?

7.1

Top Secret!

Jun 22, 1984

Popular and dashing American singer Nick Rivers travels to East Germany to perform in a music festival. When he loses his heart to the gorgeous Hillary Flammond, he finds himself caught up in an underground resistance movement. Rivers joins forces with Agent Cedric and Flammond to attempt the rescue of her father, Dr. Paul, from the Germans, who have captured the scientist in hopes of coercing him into building a new naval mine.