In Le Fantôme de la liberté / The Phantom of Liberty / El fantasma de la libertad (1974), Luis Buñuel explores the idea of liberty (aka freedom) from a surreal perspective. On the one hand, he shows, social conventions, morals, customs and laws seem (or are) absurd, and are malleable over time; on the other hand, complete freedom of the individual carried to its ideal translates into chaos, anarchy and mayhem. Is there a "reasonable" middle ground?
The Phantom of Liberty is half presentation of, half comedy of manners. Liberty has consequences. People are social animals. Try shouting "Fire!" in a crowded theatre, for instance, or driving 100 mph in a school zone during operating hours.
Or consider what is taboo in one culture or social group yet accepted in another.
In one scene, a professor speaks of Margaret Mead and anthropology, puts forth the idea of polygamy as an example. He also opens up all sorts of religious beliefs for scrutiny.
Are we truly "at liberty?"
In addition to all sorts of triggering sounds (church bells gonging, horses hooves clattering on brick pavement in a courtyard, sirens wailing, clocks ticking, water pouring), Buñuel deploys various animals (some wondering into rooms, or straining against bars at a zoo) and social archectypes in motion: police (gendarmes), soldiers, monks, government officials, young children, senior citizens, servants, teachers, doctors, lawyers, judges, nurses, an inn keeper, a sociopathic sniper, S & M exhibitionists, a Spanish guitarist and a flamenco dancer, and more -- plenty to work with, certainly. Let's just say some are more at liberty than others.
Today's Rune: Journey.
5 comments:
Ah, what is liberty in the end? Ease in entanglements?
Aloha from Waikiki;
Comfort Spiral
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Man I love Bunuel. However strange or "surreal" his films get, it's never hard to discern his messages. And the guy is genuinely funny, too. His films may be embraced by "the elite", but I think just about anyone can appreciate what he's getting at here or in 'The Discrete Charm of the Bourgeois' and 'The Exterminating Angel'.
I like that outfit!
Thanks y'all for the comentário~~ mucj appreciated. Cloudia, Bob and Charles, true dat, all~~
This reminds me of a blog post my friend made where she wrote about how our bodies are not actually ours. For instance I couldn't cover myself in tattoos head to toe and get a respectable job. I can't truly treat my body as my own without suffering societal and other repercussions.
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