Mister Freedom

'Mr Freedom' is a film as relevant as ever in our current political climate. With some far right factions expanding throughout the country, the issues of nationalism and fascism are getting evermore disturbingly pertinent to American society. Luckily, films like 'Mr. Freedom' show that artists have been willing to subvert and parody these harmful societal and political forces in entertaining and humorous ways. 'Mr. Freedom' is a film that can be enjoyed as more than just some dry, drab political statement: it is a very alive, entertaining, and visually appealing movie. The humour ranges from the pitch black to the amusingly absurd, and the scenery is filled with eye candy. Naturally, the film's color palate is painted with many reds, whites, and blues, always to an over-the-top extent, creating an atmosphere to the set and costume design that is funny, satirical, and borderline surreal.

The film's escalation into further absurdity is one of its finest attributes. Watching everything crumble into a great ball of bizarre comedy helps even further cement this film's status as a feast for the eyes and mind. Towards the end, many of the action sequences are so bafflingly insane that they become ridiculously fun. When I can't tell what exactly is even going on, I get all the more intrigued.

While it is not a perfect film, or any sort of "masterpiece" at all (there are a lot of weird audio decisions William Klein made, much of the dialogue is obviously dubbed and it is very distracting) , 'Mr. Freedom' is certainly a worthwhile experience for almost anyone looking for a good satire. It's as entertaining and absurd as a film of this kind ought to be.

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.

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.

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!

An irreverent look at US nationalism, imperialism and "red panic" .A little redundant, and outstays its welcome after a while - but an enjoyable flick, after all. Less humane than other of his movies, notably the wonderful documentary on Muhammad Ali. Great cameo roles by Philippe Noiret, and the remarkable Yves Montand as a corpse. America needs more William Kleins.