Friday, July 25, 2008
Mr. Freedom and Mr. Klein
A few weeks back on this bitstream, I explored A Perfect Couple one of the of the new Criterion DVD set higlighting the films of American expatriate filmmaker and photgrapher, William Klein. I have just finished a second film in the series, Mr. Freedom.
Mr. Freedom (William Abbey) is sent by Dr. Freedom (Donald Pleasance) to France to investigate another Freedom agent, Captain Formidable's capture and demise by MoujickMan and Red Chinaman and to free France of Reds. Mr Freedom is a foreign policy caricature in superhero garb and is simplistic, dogmatic and racist. He murders his perceived enemies without hesitation as he talks in an over-the-top cowboy cadence blended in with akind of commercial voice over delivery. His love interest and femme fatale, double agen, Marie Magdalene, played by Delphine Seyrig revives him with a monster size serving of Kellogg's Cornflakes. Seyrig is not the only noted French actor in the film. Those with a taste in international cinema will recognize appearances by Phillipe Noiret, Sammy Frey, and Serge Gainsbourg in small parts and cameos.
Mr. Freedom is satire bright, shiny and audacious. His red white and blue uniform is an hysterical combination of football, hockey and motorcycle sportswear. He is over the top Buckaroo Bonzai in a world that feels like it was created by Robert Downey Sr., Little Murders era Jules Feifer and reminds me a little bit in tone of the late seventies political farce, Winter Kills. The gags are broad and goofy for the most part, but almost always with the ragged blade of a hunting knife.
Oh my, does this film feel prescient at times. At one point Mr. Freedom is asking an inflatable French super hero if he is for us or against us. The last encounter Mr Freedom has with Dr. Freedom (the paternalism is hinted at indirectly) after long newsreel footage of 1968 Marxist demonstrations in Paris results in Dr. Freedom telling the hero not to worry about the French because they will come groveling back to Freedom after Red Chinaman gets through with them. Yet Mr. Freedom seems not to be able to get rid of his vitriol: "They are bastards, ungrateful, different."
I found a couple good short web articles about Klein and Mr. Freedom: An article by Jonathan Rosenblum about his reviving Mr. Freedom at a recent Chicago class and film seriesand
An introductory article about Klein's box set on the IFC website.
posted by well-executed buffet at 11:58 PM
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