Freedom (2009)

Strong and Moving!

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

Go in cold, and you're likely to emerge with your blood boiling. This has to be seen to be believed.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

The film is a picture of history, fluidly told through effective casting and characterization, brilliant cinematography, perfect music and creative sound design. A lot films that include Nazi's have a depressing and overall heavy flavor. Though this film delves head first into the conflicts that fascism produces, the film left me with an overall warm heart. It was not depressing after the end. The Heart in this film overrides the nazi issues. This has much to do with the well pitched music throughout, and the translations given of some lyrics, and the screen-time on particular strong characters. More in focus is the union that the characters have with nature, their conviction in life and their innocence. The beauty of nature is in focus, and the insanity that humans perform in our would becomes the distant backdrop.Well done film makers for this breath of fresh air. Strong positive message about what a life can be.

Very few films have dealt with the persecution and annihilation of the gypsies or gitanos during World War Two by Hitler and his minions. For that reason alone, this film is important. If you are looking for other films, you might check out "The Man Who Cried" with Johnny Depp.This film was a nice surprise. I expected it to be depressing, but it was not. What Gatlif managed to portray through some very nice cinematography and story development is the gypsy love of nature and the outdoors. It was beautifully done.Another theme that comes across well in this film is the gypsy love of music. They seem to have an unusual flair for music, and they use it to enrich their own lives, but also to provide an income and support themselves.As someone with a history degree, I appreciated the fact that Gatlif attempted to shed some light on a subject that few have touched. I also appreciated the cultural insights on gypsies and their lifestyle. Anyone looking for something a little different should enjoy this film.

To me, this is one of those rare movies which open a door to another world - in this case, the bleak world of France during the Second World War. The movie is in French, but as an English speaking person, there was ample time for me to digest the subtitles and the action taking place on screen. I found the characters to be well rounded and real, with only a few minor hiccups. The acting is superb and very believable. Surprisingly, for a movie with such a supposedly sad theme, there were a few times when I found myself having a good old belly laugh, even though this movie is not a comedy. The humor comes from the ridiculous, but so real situations and/or some of the characters idiosyncrasies. Probably a bit like watching someone consciously avoid slipping on a banana peel, only to be run over by a Mac truck. In my humble opinion, this is a very well made and highly entertaining film.

Tony Gatlif had already broached the subject of the gypsies in his earlier "Les Princes" (1983) or "Gadjo Dilo" (1998);sadly he never enjoyed commercial success in his native France,in spite of generally favorable reviews by critics .Himself a gypsy,he had to make a movie about his people during WW2 for it was also a genocide ,comparable to that of the Jews ;we learn that up to 25% of them were exterminated in concentration camps.Based on historical facts : the roundups by the French gendarmes in the occupied part of France and the story of a young resistant fighter who takes refuge in a small village where she has become a schoolteacher:what a humiliation it must be for her to have her pupils sing the notorious "Maréchal Nous Voila" (the children shout more than they sing ,perhaps on their mistress's advice)!It's no coincidence if this anthem is followed by the tune of "Le Temps Des Cerises" the revolutionary song of La Commune De Paris (1871).Ther's a sword of Damocles hanging over the band of gypsies who are camping in the small village .Not only the German soldiers ,but also the French police ;and anyway the French agree ,cause "they want to help the country get rid of that vermin" ;the gypsies in France have always been outcasts ,they were before WW2 and they still are in 2011.There are two just people in the village :the school teacher who welcomes the children in her school and the mayor who gives them a house so that they will not be arrested ;a "law" forbids nomadism in the country and the notable tries to circumvent it.It's a pity that the part of the mayor (singer Marc Lavoine ,an occasional actor ,notably in Chabrol's "L'Enfer" )and of the young teacher should be underwritten. All that concerns the gypsy rings true and of course they use their own language (there's an alternative gypsy title ,used abroad).And they make wonderful music.