Freedom for us!

In the 1920s, two prisoner friends, Émile and Louis, try to escape. Louis succeeds thanks to his companion who creates a diversion. Outside, he starts a record and then phonograph business, before becoming the boss of a huge factory. Émile, finally freed, leads a vagabond life. One day, he spots the niece of the factory accountant of Louis and falls in love with her. Following her into the factory, he finds himself hired almost against his will. The two former companions then meet again. Directed five years before Chaplin's \"Les Temps Moderns\", this musical, satirical, and poetic comedy by René Clair establishes a delicious parallel between prison and factory, in a world where workers become mere cogs. Through its humor and libertarian message, this film is a rallying cry for all the exploited of the world: \"À nous la liberté\"!