Liberté (2019)

Anno 1774, shortly before the French Revolution. Somewhere between Potsdam and Berlin. A group of French libertines have escaped the new, ultra-conservative government of Louis XVI. They then meet with legendary German freethinker and seducer Duc de Walchen (Helmut Berger). In a country ruled by a hypocritical regime of virtue, the mission of this group of expats under the leadership of the cunning Duchesse de Valselay (Ingrid Caven) is to export to Germany the libertinage, a philosophy based on the rejection of moral boundaries and authorities. Over the course of their search for partners, the expats discover that this derelict parkland is the meeting place of a group of decadent local libertines and freethinking courtiers of Frederick the Great. But the Germans, with their idiosyncrasies, aren’t quite convinced by such a radical trend just yet, so the ever-ambitious Duchess de Valselay develops some sophisticated strategies for improving libertinage’s marketing.

Albert Serra stages a tableau vivant of old Europe, in which new fashions and modern business practices take on grotesque forms. Explicit sex, total craziness, dark ages.