Liberté ("Liberty" or "Freedom" in French) is a 2019 Spanish-French historical erotic drama film in (mostly) French language directed and written by Albert Serra (who previously did The Death of Louis XIV).
In 1774 in the Kingdom of France, Madame de Dumeval, the Duke of Tesis and the Duke of Wand are libertine nobles who got expelled from the royal court of Louis XVI for their behavior. They seek support from the German Duke of Wachen (Helmut Berger, in his final role), a seductor and free thinker. They make it their mission to "export" libertinism, a philosophy of The Enlightenment based off the rejection of morale and authority, outside of France, and find a safe place for their forbidden pleasures.
Not to be confused with the 2023 video game.
Liberté provides examples of the following tropes:
- Auto Erotica: Some sexual encounters happen in the 18th century equivalent of a car for nobles, that is, a sedan chair.
- Bestiality Is Depraved: Madame de Dumeval pretends she once had sex with a pig the throat of which was slit, which made her scream loudly.
- Fan Disservice: Though there is sex and kinks, it's all rather cold and detached. The Loins Sleep Tonight a lot too.
- Leave the Camera Running: There's a two minutes and a half long take of a place in the forest by night with the two servants, and nothing happens.
- No Plot? No Problem!: There's no real plot, just 18th century nobles giving free reins to their own debauchery in a forest by night.
- Public Execution: The film opens with the Duke of Wand recalling the execution of would-be kingslayer Robert-François Damiens, who tried to assassinate Louis XV in 1757. He witnessed it and describes the man's quartering with much horrible details.
- Quest for Sex: At the beginning, the Duke of Wand mentions to the Duke of Wachen that the group of libertines is looking for other libertine individuals, for obvious reasons.
- Reality Has No Soundtrack: There's no musical score at all until the final scene.
- Sex Is Liberation: The characters are 18th century libertines and strongly believe in sex as a liberation from the smothering of morale and authority.
