Mr. Freedom (1969)

Mr. Freedom is a pro-American Right 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 ... See full summary »

Director:

William Klein

Writer:

William Klein

Stars:

Delphine Seyrig, John Abbey, Donald Pleasence

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Delphine Seyrig	...	Marie-Madeleine
John Abbey	...	Mr. Freedom
Donald Pleasence	...	Dr. Freedom (as Don Pleasence)
Jean-Claude Drouot	...	Dick Sensass
Serge Gainsbourg	...	M. Drugstore
Yves Lefebvre	...	Jacques Occident
Rufus	...	Freddie Fric
Sabine Sun
Rita Maiden	...	Herself
Colin Drake
Pierre Baillot
Raoul Billerey
Philippe Noiret	...	Moujik Man
Sami Frey	...	Christ
Catherine Rouvel	...	Marie-Rouge

Storyline

Mr. Freedom is a pro-American Right 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.

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Plot Keywords:

freedom | superhero | surrealism | manipulation | fascism | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Country:

France

Language:

French English

Release Date:

8 January 1969 (France)

Also Known As:

Evviva la libertà

Company Credits

Production Co:

Films du Rond-Point, O.P.E.R.A.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

French censorship certificate: 13.

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Goofs

When Mr. Freedom returns to his headquarters to find all his henchmen dead, one man with stars painted over his eyes, who is supposed to be dead, can be seen blinking.

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Quotes

Dr. Freedom: Let me tell you about the French. They are 50 million mixed-up, sniveling crybabies who haven't stood on their two feet since Napoleon, and that wasn't yesterday. And Napoleon wasn't even French.
Mr. Freedom: He was Corsican!
Dr. Freedom: That's right, boy. So the French are the white man's burden. OUR burden. We've had to carry them through two world wars already, and we're damn well gonna have to carry them through the next.

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Crazy Credits

The end credits are presented like political graffitti on the wall.

User Reviews

The Buckaroo Banzai of 1969- Vive The Delirious Fictions of Wm. Klein! 8-D

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!