Le Fantôme de la Liberté (The Phantom of Liberty)

50th anniversary screening of the film, on the occasion of the French National Day and the restoration of Democracy in Greece. In collaboration with the Plein-Air Festival by the French Institute of Greece.

Director: Luis Buñuel
Starring: Jean-Claude Brialy, Monica Vitti, Michel Piccoli, Michael Lonsdale, Jean Rochefort, Claude Piéplu, Adolfo Cheli
Runtime: 104’
Year of Production: 1974
Language: French
Subtitles: Greek

The slightest thought of describing the plot of Luis Buñuel's second-to-last film would offend the the principles of its admirer and the memory of its creator. Let us say that it is a series of episodes tied to the essential logic of dreams and the unwavering faith that instinct and the complete reversal of the accustomed give the deepest sense of meaning that a false truth fails to spell. One of the most humorous films ever made, «The Phantom of Liberty» is an anti-narrative vision of cinema that recreates the materials of life, sometimes completely twisting what we take for granted, yet releasing a joyful energy of freedom in the (congenial) viewer. All of Buñuel's obsessions (Police, Clergy, Justice, Sex, Psychoanalysis) go through hell in a surreal satin breeze, while the anthology scenes, backed by the complete absence of directing arrogance, emerge one after the other as if ordered by a wizard. This was art house cinema at its greatest and remains a hegemonic testament to how digestible, but aslo nourishing, great cinema is. Ilias Dimopoulos