This film is proof of the film school maxim, "Any film worth watching at all must be seen more than once." (Subtitled films, of course, require an extra round just for reading, so you're free to watch from then on.) Phantom of Liberty--well, Bunuel's entire body of work, actually--simply demands repeated viewing. Not to figure it out, because you won't, but to happily immerse yourself in Bunuel's transcendent understanding that real life is in fact a series of non sequiturs, and that what makes sense at one moment or on one level seems completely irrational (even
chaotic) at another. Laugh-out-loud profundity.
chaotic) at another. Laugh-out-loud profundity.