Watch Mr. Freedom For Free

Such a frustrating disappointment

It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

"So, the French are the white man's burden!" "Anti-Freedomism is at a new high." The above quotes are some of the funny lines from this strange piece of political satire. While I am an American and am reasonably conservative, this overtly anti-American film didn't offend me. After all, dissent is good and I could respect both William Klein's concept of a very flawed superhero as well as some of his points about American foreign policy circa 1969. This idea COULD have worked--even though it was bound to offend many viewers. And, while it DID start well, the entire film turned out to be a mess simply because the satire falls flat again and again--mostly due to very poor writing, acting and horrible production values. To put bluntly, many of Ed Wood's films looked better! Too bad, as this piece of commentary might have had a lot more impact if the film simply didn't look so craptastic. This film is one of the best examples of a movie that was a great idea and had great moments--but had absolutely nothing else going for it.The film is not as relevant as it used to be and I assume it would mostly be a welcome film for people who were alive during the 1960s as well as fervent America-haters--who love the idea of any film that works this hard to make fun of the United States. And, quite frankly, some of the points the film made WERE pretty clever and on--it's just too bad the film had nothing--absolutely NOTHING else going for it. Cheap and wildly uneven--this film is one that actually would probably be best viewed while under the influence.

The garage-built cacophony Mr. Freedom truly appears to be the thematic grandfather to Trey Parker's marionette spectacular Team America. During the political tumult of 1960's America, William Klein managed to create a knock down, drag out satire so brutal that nothing came close to touching it until 2004. This is a film that refuses to just poke fun at American chauvinism. Rather, it savagely tears apart the elitism held by many of the country's under educated inhabitants as well as foreign policy that equates to "agree with us or suffer". Mr. Freedom himself (portrayed brilliantly by rare actor John Abbey) is a Stetson crowned ass kicker for America, a representation of the citizens who ride their high horse all day long, looking down upon all others and who's number one fear is the threat of communism. Incredibly this film from 1969 is more relevant than most for today's disciples of 24 hour news networks and conservative radio. Simply replace communism with terrorism and this film could have been made last week.Only this film would never be made today. The entirety of the costumes seem like they were put together in an arts and crafts class in elementary school, which only adds to the absurdity of every situation. One of Mr. Freedom's key enemies is a massive inflatable commie chinaman. The ludicrous design of everything and homemade costumes and effects lend credit to the film's aim of showing us just how goddamned ridiculous our government's actions are. At one point Mr. Freedom even comes down with a surly case of stigmata, and the link between American extremism and Christian sensibilities is thrown into the limelight. Klein saw everything wrong with this country and attacked it with his kaleidoscopic dream imagery and a powerful wit so astute that his comments still matter and should be studied by the entirety of Washington DC 39 years after the fact.

This isn't a exactly a masterpiece, but a very brave and very funny look at American imperialism by-way of our consumerism, our over-consumption, our super-patriotism, our racism, and our basic stupidity as a nation.But since postmodernism is thankfully dead as an intellectual fad (the public never cared about it anyway), and because history has reared its ugly head again showing that American power has its vulnerabilities, this film has become very timely, and is definitely prescient in its criticisms of American culture and economy. That doesn't mean it's supposed to be entertaining, but far be it from us Americans to understand the difference.What's really boring is how whenever someone has the "temerity" to criticize American foreign policy, they're somehow being "pedantic" and "preachy," while the excesses of our corporate owned media get a free pass. It's a hollow argument whose lies are showing, and we've got a lot of criticism coming-our-way these days, even from our "allies" in the EU. We've earned it.Ken Russell is much better at this kind of comic book approach to satire--he's funnier. If Klein fails--which he sometimes does in Mr. Freedom--it's only because the subject matter isn't funny. America is a real horror, just as it was in the late-1960s, with more fun to come. What makes Mr. Freedom so great is how beautiful it looks, which should come as no surprise considering its source. Klein was a very successful fashion photographer for American Vogue during the 1950s-60s.Eventually, he grew tired and disgusted with the direction the country was taking at that time and left for France. Who can blame an intelligent man with a clue? If you can do it, then-by-all-means, do it. You couldn't make a movie like Mr. Freedom in America then, or now, and that's the real courage behind it. It was a labor of love and principle, a rarity in cinema.Most chilling is the slaughter of a poor Black family by Mr. Freedom in the beginning prologue. That he wears a cowboy hat, uses violence to get his way, that he eats excessively, that he's intolerant of the views of others, all speaks volumes of what America is really about, and that's criminality.

I saw this film at this years berlin film festival (berlinale2002) and it was great. Although i did not understand every word I laughed throughout the film. I just loved the american propaganda, the french accents and the bombing of France. If you've seen this film you understand the Cold War. 10/10