George Michael: Freedom (2017)

Wonderfully offbeat film!

Highly Overrated But Still Good

A Brilliant Conflict

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Totally moving. Made me fall in love with George even more. Sad to lean his album Faith was done with so much pain. It was an album that bought me so much joy, with dancing. All I can say now is, rest in paradise George, there is so much talent up there with you, much love and respect

'Freedom' is a documentary about Geroge Michael's life mostly put together by the singer himself before his untimely death last year. And it was an interesting life, that of a Watford schoolboy who became a global pop star, a legal warrior fighting his record company, and a gay man who finally embraced his sexual identity. Unfortunately, this film is not particularly interesting: Michael was a private man, and the story as told doesn't feel particularly personal. Nor is there a great discussion of the music, beyond the obligatory parade of talking heads who gush but offer no insight. The main thing that comes across is Michael's professional self-belief and ambition; though he talked of slavery in his battle with Sony, we get the sense less of a free spirit unable to work with the man, and more of someone angry he was not getting the respect he considered his talent deserved. I'd have liked to know more about the real George Michael; but here I felt I saw only what Michael wanted to be seen.

"George Michael: Freedom" (2017 release from the UK; 95 min.) is another documentary about the life and times, but mostly the music, of George Michael. As the documentary opens, we touch briefly on Wham! before moving on to "Faith", and how its global success overwhelmed George Michael. By the time we move on to "Listen Without Prejudice", we are well into the documentary.Couple of comments: this documentary is co-directed by David Austin (who has directed two previous documentaries on George Michael) and... George Michael himself. So if you are expecting to "get the dirt" on what George Michael really is like, you will be sorely disappointed. Instead, we get a chronological overview of the music in his solo career, with plenty of excerpts and correlating commentary by Michael himself and many other talking heads, including Elton John, Liam Gallagher, Mark Ronson, Mary J. Blige, Stevie Wonder, etc. You can pick up some interesting tidbits here and there (I never knew that George Michael wrote "Heal the Pain" as a tribute to Paul McCartney). Given that this documentary focuses on his solo career, there is no sight of or commentary by Andrew Ridgeley. While there are a couple of passages that discuss his personal relationships, that also is kept to a minimum. While his fight with Sony gets LOTS of screen time, other non-music incidents (such as his arrest in Hollywood) are left out entirely. So again, if you are looking for a more personal side of George Michael, this is the wrong documentary for you. If on the other hand you want to revisit some of Michael's best tunes and get the inside scoop of them, then this documentary will be right up your alley."George Michael: Freedom" premiered in the US recently on Showtime. I really didn't know what to expect, but nevertheless looked forward to catching it. Bottom line is this: "George Michael: Freedom" is pleasant viewing, no more, no less. But one day someone is going to make the definitive George Michael documentary, a la "Amy" by director Asif Kapadia.

I saw George Michael in concert in 2007 and I think the experience in some ways might really summed his life up. It was an open air concert in the summer but it rained almost all night. George came on sang for what seemed like 45 minutes and then went off for a 20 minutes break, probably for a cup of tea and a snort of some illegal substance. He then did his second act for about 20 minutes and it was on to the encore.When you have seen Bruce Springsteen live, pelting it out for 3 and half hours non stop then George was a disappointment by comparison. Then again I did not go to see for myself but my wife is a big George Michael/Wham fan. She was not a happy bunny on Christmas Day 2016. At least I took her to see him live in concert.This documentary co-directed by George himself was a comprehensive look back on his career. A career that promised much as he and Andrew Ridgely quickly made it big with Wham. In 1988 he was the biggest selling rock star in the world and he sustained this throughout the 90s but by the start of the new millennium it quickly fizzled out as his private life was in turmoil and frankly his voice started to go as he started to sing songs through a vocoder (just listen to his version of True Faith.)George talks about his highs and lows, his love life and his short lived happiness before his partner died of AIDS and later his mother died of cancer. Then his public falling out with Sony records as he did not want to promote his albums the want his record company wanted him to.Some of the contributors were a bit disappointing. I can understand Elton John being there but they also had a falling out and I wanted to hear about that. There was no Andrew Ridgely which was a glaring omission but plenty of Tracey Emin which I found mind boggling.