M.I.A: Born Free (2010 Music Video) User Reviews

Bravery comes in many guises

[bbhollywodreports · 10/10 · 3 June 2010]

When we see the hoard of SWAT members descending on a run-down hotel in Los Angeles, we can only suppose that some criminal or terrorist mastermind has been located. Or is it a search for smut? We respect the bravery of actors Michael Q. Schmidt and Carol Kraft as the naked and rather ardent lovers so rudely interrupted by the SWAT team... their amorous play brought to a halt as Michael is dragged by his hair from the lover's bed. We watch as the police smash into another room and begin beating a man simply because he dared to voice displeasure at their invasive affront. Then the police find their quarry... a thin and dour red-headed man hiding in a shower stall... and we can only think that he was either so dangerous that SWAT's extreme force was necessary... or perhaps they were simply a little bit too enthusiastic in their search. As they drag him away, we see the nude lovers trying to comfort each other.

When the prisoner is slammed into a jail transportation bus, we receive the reveal that it is filled only with red-headed young men, and we begin to sense that something is very wrong with the picture. They redheads sit sullenly or frightened as the bus rumbles out of town and finally arrives at a desert prison camp.

To tell any more would tell too much... but after watching the video for yourselves, the message becomes clear: Personal privacy and freedom is fragile... and if we do not wake up and take a stand against oppression elsewhere in the world, it will not be too long before oppression will be kicking in our own doors.

Will it catch us naked and vulnerable?

Outstanding Cinematography , Outstandingly Bad Soundtrack

[Theo Robertson · 6/10 · 28 July 2010]

BORN FREE is a rather bizarre short by Romain Gravas . The story itself is simple - A SWAT team make a bust and arrest several people . Why are they being arrested ? The cast credits on this page will give you a very obvious clue

Some shorts are very much love it or hate it and BORN FREE is strange in that there's aspects that you will both love and hate . For me the stand out aspect was Andre Chetmoff's cinematography . I don't think I've seen a better looking short than this one and the breath taking texture of the film instantly reminded me of Barry Ackroyd's Oscar nominated photography in THE HURT LOCKER . Unfortunately whilst I was drooling over the look of the film Iwas constantly irritated by the soundtrack which can be charitably described as techno meets rap . Some people may like it . I despised it greatly and wished I'd watched it with the sound off

One hopes to see Chetmoff employed in mainstream feature films because from what I've seen here he certainly shows some gifted talent . Perhaps I've also been cruel to the composer of the soundtrack and perhaps their talents would be better employed in the pop charts . MTV style tracks belong on MTV , not in a short film

Impacting concept and music which is stylishly delivered but the point and politics are lost in there somewhere (SPOILERS)

[bob the moo · 21 January 2014]

It isn't very often I have to correct Theo Robertson but this is one of the rare occasions, so I will point out that obviously Theo came to this short film without knowing that the "score" he talks about was not really part of the film but rather the other way round since this is essentially an extended music video for an M.I.A. track. She is an artist I can take or leave personally; she has done some very good stuff and works well with certain producers but at times her deliberately provocative actions make her seem petulant rather than the anarchist that she wants to be. Likewise her politics sometimes appear to be decided by whatever is opposite to the "norm" rather than being part of a fully thought-out philosophy. These are both relevant things when it comes to this film.

First the material itself. The plot sees a SWAT team storming a building looking for someone, smashing in doors and going flat to flat. The atmosphere is oppressive and the track actually works since it is pumping and aggressive. Of course as almost everyone will know already, the film is about them rounding up red-heads, which is a rather big twist since normally on news footage we would see such raids rounding up those with much darker features – not pale skin, freckles and a shock of ging on top (and I say this as one touched by the auburn myself). What follows is a rather violent sequence which is stylized a bit too much for my taste and, while horrific in its content, loses some of its power by not seeming to have a great deal behind it. As I said, sometimes MIA's point or politics can be lost in her music and I felt this was the case with the film – the point was to shock I guess and present terrible things we are perhaps used to hearing about in far off places, but put it slap-bang in the middle of our world with the red-heads.

As an atmosphere the film works and it is stylishly directed even if some of this took away from the horror. The MIA track I actually really liked and it does work with the film but it really is a music video in terms of its content once you get away from the impacting and interesting concept – I think maybe 5 more minutes of content to give more context and make the statement a bit more obvious would have been useful and would have made it into a better short film and not just a controversial music video.