Mr. Freedom

Mr. Freedom is a 1968 superhero film by the expatriate American photographer and filmmaker William Klein. An anti-imperialist satirical farce, it concerns the exploits of the titular superhero and his sidekick, Marie-Madeleine (Delphine Seyrig), as they try to prevent a Communist takeover of France and solve the murder of another American superhero, Captain Formidable. In addition to Seyrig, the film features cameos by Donald Pleasence and Philippe Noiret, as well as the musician Serge Gainsbourg.[1]

For the London pop art store, see Mr Freedom (fashion).
Mr. Freedom
Film poster
Directed byWilliam Klein
Produced byGuy Belfond
Christian Thivat
Michel Zemer
Written byWilliam Klein
StarringJohn Abbey
Delphine Seyrig
Donald Pleasence
Philippe Noiret
Music byMichel Colombier
Serge Gainsbourg
CinematographyPierre Lhomme
Edited byAnne-Marie Cotret
Release date
  • 8 January 1969 (1969-01-08) (France)
Running time
95 minutes
CountryFrance
LanguageEnglish
French

Plot summary

Mr. Freedom (John Abbey) is a Washington D.C. police officer who moonlights as a government-sanctioned, vigilante superhero. After the 1968 Washington, D.C., riots, he is summoned to the Freedom Tower-- an office building housing the U.S.'s most powerful companies- to meet with Dr. Freedom (Donald Pleasence), his handler, who informs him that another superhero, Captain Formidable, has been killed in France by operatives of the mysterious French Anti-Freedom (FAF)[2] organization. Warning that this could be the first salvo in a Soviet invasion, Dr. Freedom dispatches Mr. Freedom to investigate his death and bring France back under the sway of western capitalist influences. As a last resort, Dr. Freedom equips him with "the big one," a portable nuclear device to destroy the country in the event that it falls to Communist influence.

In France, Mr. Freedom joins forces with Captain Formidable's sidekick, the femme fatale Marie-Madeleine, to lead his own anti-communist Freedom organization; Marie-Madeleine explains that she and Captain Formidable ran a string of state-sponsored brothels, using the money they earned to finance anti-Communist activities while also gathering intelligence on the various diplomats and politicians who use their services. Arriving at a pro-USA rally, Mr. Freedom delivers an extended speech extolling the virtues of democracy and capitalism while also espousing white nationalist sympathies and warning of the encroaching influence of African Americans, Jews, Asians, and other "undesirables" on the national stage. Assembling an army from the attendees of the rally, he expresses his intention not only to secure France against Communist influence, but also build a "white wall of freedom" around the United States.

Mr. Freedom travels to the U.S. embassy (a supermarket) to meet with the American ambassador to France, who warns him of the influence of a pair of foreign superheroes-- the Russian Stalinist Muzhik Man and Chinese Maoist Red China Man-- have been exerting in the country. Mr. Freedom meets with his French counterpart, Super French Man, who expresses sympathies with their Communist ideologies, prompting Mr. Freedom to kill his sidekicks. Later he meets in a metro tunnel with Muzhik Man and Red China Man (the latter a giant, talking Chinese Dragon) and the three discuss the virtues of their various political ideologies; Muzhik Man makes friendly overtures to Mr. Freedom and disavows responsibility for the death of Captain Formidable. After he accidentally knocks himself unconscious, Muzhik Man takes Mr. Freedom back to Communist Party headquarters to recuperate; after waking up, Mr. Freedom kills Muzhik Man's girlfriend, Marie-Rouge.

Returning to Marie-Madeleine's apartment to have sex with her, Mr. Freedom suffers a crisis of conscience when her son calls him a fascist; he later realizes that his guilt is in fact coming from Red China Man, who is broadcasting subliminal messages to a radio receiver hidden in one of his teeth. After having the tooth removed, Mr. Freedom oversees the construction of a secret base from which his operatives can carry out anti-communist activities in France, and delivers a speech that works his followers into a violent frenzy, prompting them to begin looting, raping, and rioting. In response, the French begin holding anti-US demonstrations. Mr. Freedom opens fire into a crowd of peaceful protestors with a machine gun, to the horror of Marie-Madeleine, who subsequently reveals herself as an ally of Red Chinaman and a member of FAF. She further admits that she was the one who killed Captain Formidable. Mr. Freedom kills her, but FAF forces, demonstrators, and Mr. Muzhik's soldiers- seeking revenge for Marie-Rouge's death- breach his compound and kill the rest of his followers.

Resolving that France neither wants nor deserves American democracy, Mr. Freedom detonates "The Big One;" in a cutaway, Dr. Freedom admits that he really supplied Mr. Freedom with a "medium one;" the resultant explosion kills Mr. Freedom but leaves everyone else unharmed, and the French continue their anti-US rally.

Cast

Reception

Fearing it may never be seen otherwise, Klein showed the film at the 1968 Avignon Festival. Marxist-Leninist groups criticized the political caricatures of Red China Man and other characters.[3]

References
  1. Mr. Freedom at IMDb
  2. A pun on the French slang term faf “fascist”.
  3. Smith, Alison. French Cinema in the 1970s: Echoes of May. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2005
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