The Phantom of Liberty Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

The Phantom of Liberty Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov January 12, 2021

Luis Bunuel's "The Phantom of Liberty" (1974) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include vintage trailer; archival program with film scholar Peter William Evans; various archival interviews; and more. In French, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Quiet. We are discussing your disappearance.

It is neither the most outrageous nor the most effective episode in Luis Bunuel’s The Phantom of Liberty, but at the moment it sticks out like a sore thumb. When they are informed that their little girl has suddenly disappeared, the parents, both highly cultured individuals representing the French upper class, temporarily become distressed, but then quickly regain their composure and begin working on a solution to the problem. Together with their nanny, they visit the school the little girl attends and ask the obvious question: How is it possible that she vanished without a trace? The principal, also a cultured middle-aged woman, struggles to provide a satisfying answer but ensures them that the daily safety procedures were not compromised. In front of them and another very concerned teacher, the principle then calmly counts the girl’s classmates and confirms the problem -- she is still missing. But the entire time the little girl is there, in the room with the rest of her classmates, and at one point she even gets up and walks straight to her mother to let her know that she is present. She is gently brushed aside while the principal continues to carefully explain how her shocking disappearance was discovered. Eventually, the mother asks the girl to pick up her coat and together they head to the nearby police station, where the entire situation is once again deconstructed. A veteran inspector routinely asks the girl to clarify important details, describes her appearance on a piece of paper while looking at her, and then orders one of his sergeants to begin a city-wide search. Before he exits the inspector’s office, the sergeant also looks at the girl and casually asks if he can take her with him while the search is in progress.

The Phantom of Liberty is a colorful collection of other similarly surreal episodes that either bend or flat-out reject conventional logic to make a myriad of interesting points. In the episode about the “missing” girl there are a couple of such points that feel extremely relevant at the moment. One of them is about the inability of the intellectually superior mind to register reality if it isn’t fed to it the proper way. Bunuel speculates that the disconnect encourages the intellectually superior mind to seek a solution that does but while it effectively rejects anything that could potentially expose the flaws of its logic. Of course, this sums up perfectly the highly cultured contemporary elitist and his conviction that it is reality that must conform to intellectual superiority. This is the very reason why the existence of the little girl is repeatedly rejected by her parents and later on the inspector -- her case has to be solved exactly as their intellectually superior minds dictate.

There is another equally illuminating episode in which a bigger group of supposedly very cultured individuals gather around a large table to have a meal. Instead of sitting on old-fashioned chairs, however, they use fancy toilet chairs, and when they leave the table, they rush to a small but comfy restroom where an automated machine provides hot meals on demand. So, everything is backwards again, but the intellectually superior mind does not register the problem because reality is fed to it the proper way. The pleasantries, the manners, the lovely upscale environment, everything looks right, so it cannot possibly be wrong.

Oddly enough -- or perhaps not so much once you figure out precisely how Bunuel’s mind operates -- The Phantom of Liberty routinely compromises itself. Indeed, many of its jabs on class, culture, elitism, and contemporary social order are incredibly transparent and, in some instances, quite dull, and yet there are numerous literary references and intellectual trickery in it suggesting a much more complex cinematic assault. So, Bunuel’s mind actually falls victim of its own "superior" critical deconstruction of the intellectual flaws that have handicapped the protagonists of his film.

The cast is humongous. Michel Piccoli, Adolfo Ceil, Monica Vitti, Jean Rochefort, Michael Lonsdale, Jean-Claude Brialy, Adriana Asti, Marie-France Pisier, the list goes on and on.

The Phantom of Liberty Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.68:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p0 transfer, The Phantom of Liberty arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.

The following text appears inside the booklet that is provided with this Blu-ray release:

"This new digital transfer for The Phantom of Liberty was created in high-definition from a 35mm interpositive and 35mm magnetic tracks by StudioCanal at VDM in Issy-les--Moulineaux, France."

The only other release of The Phantom of Liberty that I have in my library is the one fromThe Luis Buñuel Collection R2 DVD box set, which the defunct Optimum Home Entertainment produced in the United Kingdom in 2007. So, the only comparison I can offer at the moment is between the old DVD release and the new Blu-ray release.

The master that was used to produce the Blu-ray release is old, but the transfer is new. Even though there is room for improvement in a couple of key areas, I like this master a lot. There are quite a few areas with similarities suggesting that the DVD release was sourced from the same master, but the improvements on the Blu-ray release are substantial and really extremely easy to appreciate. Delineation and depth in particular are vastly superior, especially in darker areas where the DVD release simply cannot produce strong enough visuals. I actually did a little bit of DVD upscaling on my system and was quite surprised to see that the visuals become blocky and break down even during the daylight footage. (See the sequence where Jean Rochefort is pulled over by the cops). Density levels are good, but there is room for improvement. Also, the color scheme is convincing, but this is another area where the saturation levels can be better. I like the color balance a lot, which is very similar to that of the DVD release. Image stability is excellent. There are no traces of problematic digital tinkering, so even on a very large screen the film boasts a very nice organic appearance. Lastly, there are no distracting age-related imperfections. My score is 4.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

The Phantom of Liberty Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: French LPCM 1.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature.

From the three films in the box set The Phantom of Liberty has the most all-around consistent audio track. The dialog is very clear, sharp, and nicely rounded. While viewing the film, I never felt that the audio was becoming 'thinner', as I sometimes do while revisiting older films. I think that when the current master was prepared the audio was optimized very well.

The Phantom of Liberty Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - vintage original trailer for The Phantom of Liberty. In French, with printed English subtitles. (4 min, 1080i).

• Jean-Claude Carriere - in this archival video interview, writer Jean-Claude Carriere explains how the original concept for The Phantom of Liberty came to exist and addresses some of the key themes that define the film. The interview was conducted for Criterion in 2000. In English, not subtitled. (5 min, 1080i).

• Peter William Evans - in this archival program, film scholar Peter William Evans deconstructs The Phantom of Liberty and addresses its style. The program was produced in 2017. In English, not subtitled. (20 min, 1080p).

• Michel Piccoli and Jean-Claude Brialy - presented here is an archival episode of the French television series Pour le cinema in which Michel Piccoli and Jean-Claude Brialy discuss Luis Bunuel's working methods. In French, with optional English subtitles. (5 min, 1080i).

• Jean-Claude Brialy - presented here is an archival episode of the French television program Le dernier des chiq in which Jean-Claude Brialy shares a few anecdotes about his collaborations with Luis Bunuel. The episode was broadcast in 1974. In French, with optional English subtitles. (7 min, 1080i).

• The Producers: "Serge Silberman" - this archival documentary focuses on the life and legacy of producer Serge Silberman, who collaborated with Luis Bunuel on The Phantom of Liberty, That Obscure Object of Desire, and The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie. The documentary was produced in 1985. In French, with optional English subtitles. (31 min, 1080i).

• Booklet - 58-page illustrated booklet featuring essays by critics Adrian Martin and Gary Indiana as well as three archival interviews with Luis Bunuel conducted by Jose de la Colina and Tomas Perez Turrent and technical credits.

The Phantom of Liberty Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Folks, do not put too much stock in what some supposedly very smart critics have written about Luis Bunuel's The Phantom of Liberty. It is not the complex, or for that matter brilliant, cinematic assault they have described. It is a fairly straightforward mockery piece and your own deconstruction of its absurd episodes will be perfectly fine. To be honest, I actually find the desire to overanalyze the few mostly meaningless literary references and intellectual booby traps in it every bit as telling as the struggle of its very cultured and supposedly intelligent protagonists to rationalize the obvious while ignoring the, well, obvious. By the way, this is precisely what makes the film quite relevant in the current socio-political environment as well. The Phantom of Liberty is included in this three-disc box set from Criterion, together with The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie and That Obscure Object of Desire. RECOMMENDED.