Imagine Captain America as a sociopathic, racist misogynist...
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Sorbonne-trained artist William Klein first made his mark as a photographer, and was interested in experimenting with the formal qualities of the medium from the outset. Klein used overexposed film, blurry shots and wide-angle compositions to create a signature look. With the launch of the French New Wave in the late 1950s, it was only natural for Klein to bring similar interests to the medium of film, which is really just serial photography. This new boxed set from Criterion´s Eclipse series offers two of his earliest features: "Who Are You, Polly Maggoo?" (1966) and "Mr. Freedom" (1969) along with a late 70s feature "The Model Couple" (1977).
WHO ARE YOU, POLLY MAGGOO
The first two films owe an obvious debt to Jean-Luc Godard above all other Nouvelle Vague filmmakers. "Polly Maggoo" most closely resembles "Une femme mariée" (1964) and "Two or Three Things I Know About Her" (1967), though the latter film was released a year after "Polly Maggoo." The film takes place in the world of Parisian high-fashion where chic American model Polly Maggoo (knock-out Dorothy McGowan) serves as a fetish object for fashion designers, a lovelorn prince, obsessed fans, and a television producer. The film´s central question is asked on-screen by a French television documentary crew purportedly doing an expose on the fashion icon though, in reality, they intend to make her look foolish through selective editing. But film producer Grégoire (Jean Rochefort) falls in love (or at least in lust) with her, complicating the documentary´s production and his own life. He has to contend for Polly´s affections with the famously lonely Prince Igor (Sami Frey), a collector who wants Polly as his ultimate toy.
The film´s opening scene is a dazzler, taking a satirical stab at the shallow world of high fashion. Pencil-thin models parade around in sharp aluminum dresses that are not merely uncomfortable but actually dangerous to wear. A coterie of sycophants applaud the show´s designer for the sheer genius and audacity of the new look. The rest of the movie doesn´t quite live up to the promise of this stunning opener, but its in-depth look at the making and unmaking of an icon and the way that images and identities can be appropriated through the media is fascinating. Polly struggles to hold onto an identity that she isn´t even sure she has as rival factions play tug-of-war for her body and soul. Shot in gorgeous black-and-white by Jean Boffety, this is the most visually arresting of the three films in the set.
MR. FREEDOM
Imagine Captain America as a sociopathic, racist misogynist and you have the first inklings of what it´s like to be "Mr. Freedom." After gunning down a black family as a "warning," Mr. Freedom (John Abbey) is called into headquarters by Dr. Freedom (Donald Pleasance) who informs him that France needs his help due to the tragic murder of Captain Formidable (Yves Montand, who appears on-screen as a corpse in two scenes.) Mr. Freedom races to France where he teams up with Captain Formidable´s gorgeous assistant Marie Madeleine (Delphine Seyrig) to discover who killed the Captain and to bring "freedom" to the country at all costs (sound familiar?)
Jonathan Rosenbaum describes this as "conceivably the most anti-American movie ever made" and it´s hard to argue with him. Mr. Freedom represents every jingoistic, xenophobic stereotype of an ugly American that has ever been perpetuated. His complete contempt for human life (or at least the lives of any non-white non-Americans and/or Commies) is so over-the-top that initially you can´t help but be a little offended. But as Klein pushes his satire to increasingly absurd heights, the joke turns out to be a pretty damned funny, though obvious, one.
The clear reference point from Godard´s oeuvre is "Alphaville" (1964); Klein pays direct homage in one scene where Mr. Freedom is asked how Batman and John Wayne are doing, and another where Mr. Freedom shoots an agent who mysteriously appears in his hotel room. Even more than Godard, though, "Mr. Freedom" looks likes a kitschy super-hero film made by Andy Warhol or Paul Morrissey. Mr. Freedom sings with a backing group of scantily clad muscle men while charging up his rabidly fascist supporters. Even better, Mr. Freedom battles two dirty Commie foes: the Russian Moujik Man (Philippe Noiret) who is basically just a guy wearing a giant rubber foam suit, and Red China Man, a 30-some foot long inflated dragon balloon flapping around in a subway station.
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