Mister Freedom

By day, our hero is a redneck policeman, but when needed, he puts on a strange outfit and becomes the policeman of the world. At the beginning of the film, Mr. Freedom is dispatched by Dr. Freedom (a dead-on Donald Pleasence) to France, which is in danger of going Red. Mr. Freedom will not let this happen. . . regardless of how many innocent bystanders he kills in the process.

Obviously made as a reaction to America's involvement in Vietnam, Mr. Freedom is slightly dated, but perhaps not as much as its detractors may like to pretend. Also, the film is surprisingly colorful. With its bright set design, this low-budget film pleases the eye far most legitimate superhero film movies.

There are slow stretches. Some ideas miss. Yet, one forgives the misses for what the film gets perfectly right (an American embassy in a supermarket, Mr. Freedom trying to get a French child to laugh at him, a trip to the dentist, and the ending). This film reminds one a little of Alphaville. Both films are low-fi science fiction with unique, inimitable visuals. This is a good film for the adventurous viewer who thinks he has seen everything.

Simply put, Mr. Freedom is unlike any film being made today.

This satire on the American persona starts off as a biting attack on the jingoistic way we Americans force ourselves on others onto and treat other people at home, and mostly abroad. Mr Freedom, a boneheaded superhero is sent to rid France of communist infiltration. As he attempts to swing France back into American influence he battles his Soviet counterpart and the evil Red China Man.

After the first half hour, during which most of the points are made, this film circles around itself in total confusion before collapsing into total incomprehensibility. It looks like someone took huge chunks out of this film. I've seen some people listing the this film as having a full running time of 115 minutes. If thats the case see that version and not the 95 minute English one since it probably makes more sense.

Frankly this is a major disappointment since the film would seem to have become timely again with what is going on in the Iraq. Instead its a major misfire that is rightly not well known in America.

7 out of 10 for curiosity and for some truly wonderful moments, mostly in the first half. See it if you like misfires or want to see how the world has come full cycle, just prepare to be confused regarding the plot.

William Klein's biting satire of the ugly American as superhero Mr. Freedom. It's definitely got a 60s sensibility but the subject matter is as contemporary as today's news. It becomes a little unfocused in the second half but it's a wild ride nonetheless. A real bonus is the appearance of Serge Gainsbourg as Mr. Drugstore. Warning though- if you politically lean to the right, this one might not be for you.

Wow!! To my taste this is far funnier and less campy than Dr Strangelove. Talk about the arid intellectual- Dr. Strangelove pulls his punches and spoons-out his laughs. Mr. Freedom has the bold "logo-rhhea" power to come out and blame The Reds *AND* The Blacks for all his troubles- Not fun or funny? Maybe Kubrick makes better 'cinema'- or maybe he's just lingering over mild material. Klein is committed, overt; profoundly radical. I've seen nothing like this script, but overall- especially the direction, invention & conviction- it reminds me of "The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai: Across the 8th Dimension". Except where Americans describe Buckaroo as "agreeably insane", Mr. Freedom comes from some different country. OTOH- None of these films depend on any nuance. It is probable that the first 40 minutes are the most astounding of Mr. Freedom's bizarrely breathless life. After that we're asked to buy into the TV-Batman premise; then we proceed along an escalating series of staged confrontations- offering no development 'per se', but plentiful poignant wordplay. Whole pages of the script are totally "quotable", but possibly poisoned. So if one isn't angered by our corporate-imperialist history in Europe (i.e., the Cold War ('Red Chinaman', 'Mr. Moujik' ('peasant' in Russian)), the 1960's Marseilles underground (represented as Mafia lowlife "Mr. Drugstore" (Turk Sweet, anyone?))) & some very similar Euro-Colonialist history - then yeah, it'll all sound 'stupid'. Well the fun here is part surreal/comics- but it's *All* satirical- i.e., depends on deeper connections. And "literate" is Problem #1 for USA-educated, Depression-Generation video-gamers. A grounding in international politics just won't match the power-fantasies of Fox-TV Gulf-war coverage for jingoistic thrill-kills/per-minute. But anyone who reads to stay awake should appreciate Director William Klein's ambitious coup. Anyone ready for 'System of a Down' or 'Rage Against the Machine' etc. should score (& another historic value IS the scrappy score by Serge Gainsborough (also seen at the piano)). Vive the French Anti-Freedom League! Vive Paris 1968!

William Klien's late 60's flick "Mr. Freedom" is a satire on American culture. Some people will find it mean spirited, but I personally found it hilarious. It's a pretty good critique on America's foreign policy. Mr. Freedom is a tall, flag waving patriotic style superhero. He wheres a red, white and blue football uniform and is very racist, misogynist and an egomaniac. Kind of like the dumb high school jock, who picks on everyone. He is sent on a mission to stop the spread of communism in France. He must save people from his enemy, Red China man. In order to save France and force democracy on others, he literally rapes and destroys their country. Hmmmmm, isn't there a small middle eastern country that we've been doing the same thing to? Mr. Freedom has ridiculously bright patriotic colors and subversive humor galore. The costumes look like something from a drugged out 70's children's show. Many people may feel outraged at the films satirical elements. To me, the movie was hilarious. It's a great laugh when living in these troubled times. Look for a cameo by Donald Pleasence of "Halloween". And who can forget the Mr. Freedom theme song? (Hurray for freedom, for one and for all... It's you and meet em and ten foot tall...) F-R-(double E)-D- D-O-M spells FREE-DOM and you'll notice the film puts an emphasis on DOM(dumb). Enjoy Mr. Freedom, I did!