LE FANTÔME DE LA LIBERTÉ · DAS GESPENST DER FREIHEIT | Yorgos Lanthimos: Kino des Unbehagens - Black Box im Filmmuseum Düsseldorf

LE FANTÔME DE LA LIBERTÉ
THE GHOST OF FREEDOM

France 1974 · 103 min · Original version with subtitles · 35 mm · Rated 16 · Dir.: Luis Buñuel · Screenplay: Luis Buñuel, Jean-Claude Carrière · Cinematography: Edmond Richard · Starring: Adriana Asti, Julien Bertheau, Jean-Claude Brialy, Michel Piccoli, Adolfo Celi, and others.

The police chief moonlights as a burglar; a girl who was supposedly kidnapped is present when the missing person report is filed; people lock themselves in to eat, and they use the restroom together: In Buñuel’s film *LE FANTÔME DE LA LIBERTÉ*, which he himself described as his most surrealistic, the principle of the “upside-down world” reigns supreme. The film has no continuous plot but consists of a series of loosely connected episodes in which Buñuel wittily and amusingly critiques the bourgeoisie. “LE FANTÔME DE LA LIBERTÉ cannot even be recounted. I don’t like logic or logically constructed fables.” (Luis Buñuel).

Lanthimos calls Buñuel his “absolute favorite director.” And much like Buñuel, Lanthimos does not simply depict the world, but rather creates alternative visions of reality in his films. “I watch his films often. *LE FANTÔME DE LA LIBERTÉ* was very inspiring for *KINDS OF KINDNESS*, for example, in terms of the structure featuring three different films that aren’t necessarily related to one another.” (Criterion Collection, Closet Picks).