This Surrealist film, with a title referencing the Communist Manifesto, strings together short incidents based on the life of director Luis Buñuel. Presented as chance encounters, these loosely related, intersecting situations, all without a consistent protagonist, reach from the 19th century to the 1970s. Touching briefly on subjects such as execution, pedophilia, incest, and sex, the film features an array of characters, including a sick father and incompetent police officers.
The challenging lack of a narrative center doesn't prevent this film from having a great deal to say about the modern world and its ambivalent grasp of freedom.
– Jonathan Rosenbaum,
Chicago Reader,
1 Jan 2000
fresh:
Albeit scattershot, Phantom does cohere as a satire of keeping up appearances in which everything is as it appears.
– Jessica Winter,
Village Voice,
5 Nov 2002
fresh:
The physical production is stunning to look at. The cast is large, first-rate, but the presence that dazzles us is that of the Old Master, just off screen, mercilessly testing our senses of sanity and humor.
– Vincent Canby,
New York Times,
9 May 2005
fresh:
A tour de force, a triumph by a director confronting almost impossible complications and contradictions and mastering them. It's very funny, all right, but remember: With Bunuel, you only laugh when it hurts.