The Phantom of Liberty & Small Change

The Phantom of Liberty was the first in an unintentional episodic film minifest about life in France in the 1970s. As this was by Buñuel, it was quite a bit more insane than the next film, but as it's Buñuel, it was very funny. Some classic scenes, like the missing persons report and the dinner party, make the film necessary, especially for fans of surrealism, but it doesn't reach the heights of Discreet Charm or Obscure Object. Oh, and I forgot about the monks playing poker. Um, and the nephew-aunt incest. Strange film. It's about the absurdity of bourgeois society, so it basically fits in perfectly with most of Buñuel's oeuvre. And the episodic nature of the film means that the criticisms aren't quite as effective.

Small Change, on the other hand, was a completely excellent look at children in small town France. Truffaut understands children in a way few people do. It was not a very deep film, but all the scenes were enjoyable enough to make up for it. Like the abandonment of the child who liked the dirty bag, the boy buying flowers, and the small kid and the pasta. But there was at least some anti-child abuse theme to the film, which was good. Because child abuse tends to lead to kids who become criminals. Boo child abuse.