René Clair was one of the first directors to use sound selectively: in his films, spoken dialogue, incidental noises, and especially music all were harnessed to create humor or suspense, and sound was frequently omitted entirely rather than used unnecessarily. A Nous la liberté, like Chaplin's Modern Times, which it influenced (just as Clair's characters were influenced by Chaplin's before them), is an attack on automation which does not hesitate to compare factory life with prison life in futuristic sets designed by Lazare Meerson. The story depicts the adventures of two ex-convicts: Louis, now the owner of a large phonograph company, and Emile, a confirmed freedom-loving vagabond. Clair combines fantasy with irony, whimsy with wistful pessimism, musical comedy with fine-tuned slapstick to create a satire of the highest order.