Mr. Freedom

This is crude, stupid, and obnoxious, but that doesn't necessarily make it lazy, or even bad, especially when the reality that's being parodied is crude, stupid, and obnoxious. Remarkably, most of the humor still remains as relevant as ever. Reminder: Donald Trump is the Republican nominee for president. If I had it my way, garish parodies of American authoritarianism and aggression would be released to the general public at least once a year. Klein is doing god's work.

The first half hour has the pop and energy to overcome the simplistic nature of the political commentary. After that it fades and, while there are still funny moments and the occasional meaningful critique, those moments get further and further between and it becomes a slog to watch. The garish style goes from fun camp to tedious correspondingly.

I liked the political satire and the skewering of far-right imperialism and authoritarianism couched behind "patriotism" and "freedom" much more than I liked the film itself.

Klein's style of writing is the main point of intrigue in this film, because Mr. Freedom is a precursor to John Waters and Troma in terms of trashy goofiness. But the novelty quickly wears off and we are faced with a political farce so crude as to render it toothless, even self-defeating. It plays more like a parody of Klein's own lefty messages than of the subjects he intended to parody. It does deserve points for featuring a Serge Gainsbourg cameo.

Satire done wrong is a miserable thing, and very little here is done right. Klein takes aim at the easiest targets, paints with the broadest strokes, and goes for the cheapest gags. There were a few chuckle-worthy moments but most of it is groan-worthy. Klein is preaching to the converted. It's odd to see Delphine Seyrig amidst all this, but bless her heart, she gives it her all. On the plus side, the visuals are dazzling, with colors that pop off the screen and a giddy sense of set design.

Em honra do centenário do grande Donald Pleasence filme #1. Sátira política não dá para ficar melhor do que isso, principalmente se meio século depois as coisas satirizadas continuam as mesmas, plus o tipo de filme de super-herói que se tornaria fenômeno de massa no século XXI já é visível aqui. Youtube.

The goofiness of the whole thing is pretty fun at first but I found that it got rather tedious after awhile. There are a few things spoofed that seem more and more prevalent now then they did in the sixties.

William Klein's scattershot satire has some good ideas amongst all the disorganised madness, occasionally working well as an indictment of American foreign policy in the 1960s, but it's about as subtle as a sledgehammer to the windpipe and isn't at all funny, meaning its brash ridiculousness all gets rather tiresome before long. Serge Gainsbourg's presence is heinously underexploited too.

I suppose some people think this movie was prescient.

couldn't get through much of this unbearably stupid and unfunny mess that also has terrible sound problems.

Starts out on a very fascinating note, with some interesting satirical elements, but it doesn't take too long to devolve into nonsense.