CineFile Video

Plot outline: Mr. Freedom is a pro-America superhero who fights for God and Country by beating, robbing, raping and killing anyone who looks like they might disagree with him. When he hears that France is in danger of falling to the Commies, Mr. Freedom heads overseas to set things right. When the welcome he receives isn’t quite as warm as he expected, he gives up hope of steering the French away from the Reds and decides to salvage what he can by destroying the entire country

American ex-pat artist William Klein’s most prolific filmmaking period came in the mid-60s, after he abandoned his original medium of photography. The films he made during this period reflect his scathing political outlook and caustic sense of humor, both of which are overwhelmingly present in “Mister Freedom”, a nonstop gutbusting satire on American imperialism, which Michael Sullivan of The Unknown Movies accurately calls “the world of Sid and Marty Kroft filtered through the eyes of Stanley Kubrick.” Sullivan goes on to say:

“Admittedly, ‘Mister Freedom’ is at times pretentious, wrongheaded, and about as subtle as a jackhammer to the forehead. But it’s also a sometimes hilarious and unpredictable satire of imperialism in the guise of a superhero movie. It sometimes plays like an issue of Captain American written by Rush Limbaugh…[m]ixing pop art with ‘Mad Magazine’-style satire, ‘Mister Freedom’ is filled with larger than life costumes and sets, purposely overheated dialogue, and cartoonishly over the top characters. Because of this, it had the potential to turn into something shrill and obnoxious. But thankfully, Klein balances out the campier aspects with searing social commentary, and the cast knows when to rein themselves in and avoid becoming pathetic Charles Nelson Reilly clones…[a]side from the Roy Lichtenstein-like set design, the most memorable aspect of ‘Mister Freedom’ is John Abbey’s crazed performance in the titular role. Abbey truly threw himself into this character, and almost seems to relish doing things like beating up French tourists (and robbing them), forcing a maid to strip at gunpoint, and spouting hilariously nonsensical pro-American speeches (’You want a piano? Here you go. Want two pianos?’)”

Mister Freedom - “Balls!” speech (MP3)
Mister Freedom - end credits theme (MP3)

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 1st, 2007 at 2:11 pm and is filed under Movie Music Archives. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.