New York Film Festival 57 Screenings 2
Liberté (Albert Serra)
My favorite film at NYFF 57, Albert Serra's Liberté recalls my favorite film of the century, Jacques Nolot's La chatte à deux têtes (aka Porn Theatre, 2002). Based on a play Serra mounted for a controversial performance at Berlin's Volksbühne last year (according to an Artforum review by Dennis Lim, patrons shouted “Louder!” and “Some acting please!”), Liberté's central presentational mode is cruising: a dozen of so 18th-century libertines roam a German forest at night and engage in a variety of polymorphously perverse acts with one another. The first scene teases us with a story. But it's best not to recount it here (although I'll paste the official one below for posterity's sake) because Serra soon jettisons any narrative niceties for a frame drowned in darkness and a soundtrack dominated by half-heard whispers and mumbling. As they cruise, characters remain nameless and even faceless for the remainder of the running time. They move in and out of sedan chairs, lean against trees, prostrate themselves in the soil to give and receive pleasures. The pleasures offer urine, blood, hole, and promise more. If the overall structure is directionless, then Serra gathers directions, vectors, energies, and flows under its aegis. Liberté is without purpose, without moral, without justification, and I cannot think of a film that better earns its title.
Grade: A+
The Q & A deserves special mention. Apparently, Serra has the reputation of being a jerk and he didn't disappoint, reserving particular bile for actors. But he also delivered the most intelligent commentary I've ever heard at a Q & A. Some paraphrased insights:
The film is set at night because night is not progressive. We often can't remember what we did last night which makes it perfect for implementing pleasures.
Utopia is paradoxical because you impose your good(s) on others. It's not natural.
Cruising concerns giving of yourself rather than only seeking out what you desire.
The crowds visible in Woodstock (Michael Wadleigh, 1970) were not as in control of their image as we are now with social media.
Actors don't control the image as much as they think. The camera in Liberté was often far away and they cannot control what the camera sees. Thus, Serra reported that some actors didn't even recognize themselves when they saw the film. He was quite preoccupied with this gap between what actors think they're giving off and what the camera records.
According to Dominique 's review of the film for Art Critique, the following was "officially outlined" as the plot:
“Mrs de Dumeval, the Duke of Tesis and the Duke of Wand, exiled libertarians from the puritanical court of Louis XVI, seek support from the legendary Duke of Walchen*, a German seducer and free thinker who finds himself lonely in a country ruled by false virtue and hypocrisy. Their mission was not only to export libertarianism and Enlightenment philosophy founded on the rejection of morality and authority to Germany but also to find a safe place to indulge in their roguish games. Will the nuns from the convent next door be drawn into in this wild night where the pursuit of pleasure is no longer subject to any other laws than those dictated by their unfulfilled desires?”
*Helmut Berger!
My favorite film at NYFF 57, Albert Serra's Liberté recalls my favorite film of the century, Jacques Nolot's La chatte à deux têtes (aka Porn Theatre, 2002). Based on a play Serra mounted for a controversial performance at Berlin's Volksbühne last year (according to an Artforum review by Dennis Lim, patrons shouted “Louder!” and “Some acting please!”), Liberté's central presentational mode is cruising: a dozen of so 18th-century libertines roam a German forest at night and engage in a variety of polymorphously perverse acts with one another. The first scene teases us with a story. But it's best not to recount it here (although I'll paste the official one below for posterity's sake) because Serra soon jettisons any narrative niceties for a frame drowned in darkness and a soundtrack dominated by half-heard whispers and mumbling. As they cruise, characters remain nameless and even faceless for the remainder of the running time. They move in and out of sedan chairs, lean against trees, prostrate themselves in the soil to give and receive pleasures. The pleasures offer urine, blood, hole, and promise more. If the overall structure is directionless, then Serra gathers directions, vectors, energies, and flows under its aegis. Liberté is without purpose, without moral, without justification, and I cannot think of a film that better earns its title.
Grade: A+
The Q & A deserves special mention. Apparently, Serra has the reputation of being a jerk and he didn't disappoint, reserving particular bile for actors. But he also delivered the most intelligent commentary I've ever heard at a Q & A. Some paraphrased insights:
The film is set at night because night is not progressive. We often can't remember what we did last night which makes it perfect for implementing pleasures.
Utopia is paradoxical because you impose your good(s) on others. It's not natural.
Cruising concerns giving of yourself rather than only seeking out what you desire.
The crowds visible in Woodstock (Michael Wadleigh, 1970) were not as in control of their image as we are now with social media.
Actors don't control the image as much as they think. The camera in Liberté was often far away and they cannot control what the camera sees. Thus, Serra reported that some actors didn't even recognize themselves when they saw the film. He was quite preoccupied with this gap between what actors think they're giving off and what the camera records.
According to Dominique 's review of the film for Art Critique, the following was "officially outlined" as the plot:
“Mrs de Dumeval, the Duke of Tesis and the Duke of Wand, exiled libertarians from the puritanical court of Louis XVI, seek support from the legendary Duke of Walchen*, a German seducer and free thinker who finds himself lonely in a country ruled by false virtue and hypocrisy. Their mission was not only to export libertarianism and Enlightenment philosophy founded on the rejection of morality and authority to Germany but also to find a safe place to indulge in their roguish games. Will the nuns from the convent next door be drawn into in this wild night where the pursuit of pleasure is no longer subject to any other laws than those dictated by their unfulfilled desires?”
*Helmut Berger!
Labels: Albert Serra, NYFF
posted by Kevin John at 10:15 AM
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