Give Me Liberty

A perfect surrealistic picture of life as it is. With all its diversity, sadness, happiness, loyalty, compassion and love. A film that moves you and gives you hope, makes you think and reconsider a number of things in life. Ad leaves you with this sweet feeling that in the end of the day love will save us all.

Kirill Mikhanovsky's ambitious film (partially shot on 16mm) follows an eventful day in the life of a young accessibly van driver in Milwaukee. Vic (Chris Galust) is the young Russian immigrant who's daily pickup routine is sidetracked when a group of mostly elderly ex-Soviets need a ride to a funeral of one of their own. Along the way, Vic tries to maneuver his regular riders into the trip but keeps getting sidetracked. LIBERTY seems to be headed into farce territory, but, eventually reveals itself to have much more on its mind. Vic is still looking for what to do with his life. The members of his community may be all lumped together as "Russians", but, as the film amply shows, the old Soviet Union was a collection of different nations, factions and religions (as is the Milwaukee inner city where the story is set). One of the movie's most amusing lines is when the smooth-talking Dima (Maxim Stoyanov) compares the bitter cold Wisconsin weather to Siberia! Mikhanovsky (who co-writes with Alice Austen) is certainly audacious in trying to pack so much into a single day (including a full blown protest turned riot), but, it works more often than not. It's overlong, and certainly over-reaches from time to time, but, it has a cumulative effectiveness. The acting (which includes a good number of debuts) is engaging, particularly Lauren Spencer as one of Vic's riders, the wheel-chair bound Tracy. Despite having a lot on his plate, Mikhanovsky is smart enough to slow down the sometimes frenetic pace to capture the tinniest moments and intimate details. The heart-to-heart talks with a bed ridden elderly man - credited only as 'Vic's Confidant' (James Watson) - form a kind of an eloquent bookend to the film. They anchor the piece, even if the title ends up being more of a question mark (Give Me Liberty?) than a declarative statement.

Give Me Liberty (2019) was co-written and directed by Kirill Mikhanovsky. Chris Galust lays Vic, a young man who drives a medical transport van. Lauren 'Lolo' Spencer portrays Tracy, one of his passengers. Maxim Stoyanov is Dima, a giant of a man who may or may not be what he says he is.

The problem for Vic is that he does more for his clients than just drive them--he's sort of their social worker as well. He also does more for his grandfather's friends, who are older Jewish people from Russia, and who need transportation.

As the van goes careening down the Milwaukee streets, Vic keeps telling the dispatcher "I'm going to Eisenhower." I thought Eisenhower was a highway, but instead it's the Eisenhower Center vocational training program that helps people with disabilities. Some of the scenes are shot within the Eisenhower Center, and they present the clients in a positive and respectful way. That's one of the strengths of the movie.

The film has some funny scenes, but it also has some disturbing scenes of violent interactions between police and protestors. So, although in the very basic sense it's a love story, it's not for everyone.

Give Me Liberty would work well in a theater, but it was OK on the small screen. It has a dismal IMDb rating of 6.6. It's not a great movie, but I thought that rating was too low, and rated it 8.

Anyone who has the ability to say "no" to people who try to take advantage of them will find this movie at times intolerable.

I don't happen to come from an overbearing family who expect me to orient my entire life around helping them, so I had trouble relating to the main character in this movie or to feel any sympathy for him. That main character is Vic, a young man who spends his days shuttling people with disabilities to one place and another. Some of these people are sweet and kind, but many of them are jerks. On the particular day on which this movie is set, he also agrees as a favor to taxi a group of old, horrible people to a funeral (apparently taxis, Lyfts, and public transportation don't exist in Milwaukee) and adds Dima, the movie's most noxious character, to his passenger list. Dima is a gross, hairy dude who aggressively makes sexual advances at every woman he comes across (Vic's sister among them) despite being told "no," until every woman eventually finds him so irresistible that they give in (nice message). The film is one prolonged note of chaos, as Vic valiantly tries to go about his duties while everyone yells at him, complains about how he's doing things, and makes you wonder why he doesn't drive them all off a cliff.

Vic also has a mom, who calls him over to her apartment to move a sofa in the middle of his work day and then proceeds to berate him about how he has no direction in life and should get a better job.

The film has the feel of a personal memoir, and I'm assuming this was life to a certain extent as experienced by it's writer and director. But I spent the whole movie wondering why Vic didn't just grow a pair, kick all of the freeloaders off his van (or better yet, never offer to give them a ride in the first place) and get on with his life.

There are good things about the movie. It's assuredly directed (except for the ending, an implausible mess of a scene set at a jail protest) and it's well acted by a group of unknowns. It clearly wants to bring awareness to the marginalized, and I welcome any stories that put front and center those who society normally pushes to the fringes. But it's too undisciplined and one-note to wholeheartedly recommend.

Grade: B

I have one criteria for movies: Do I believe in what's happening on the screen despite how fictional the story could be or not. Watching "Give Me Liberty" is that rare experience when you forget who, when and where you are, - that's how it draws you in and remains with you for a long time after it's over... This film - like no other modern American film raises the long overdue profound question: WHAT UNITES US AS A NATION? Is it desire to succeed? Yearning for wealth? Building a better life for our children? Freedom to own a gun? Or maybe it's tolerance and acceptance of our differences, no matter how varied our ethnic backgrounds might be - immigrants, minorities, of all ages, in sickness and health. Film director K. Mikhanovsky has charged his picture with insightful knowledge of life and cultural diversity, a sense of proportion, reality and integrity. Every instant of the movie feels unpredictable and unique, which indicates how much work was invested in the script. Any discerning film viewer with preconceived expectations will be able to find anything they desire: Comedy, drama, love, documentary, innocence, tears, bitter and funny self portrait from unusual angle, and sublime poetry... Lots of poetry...

p.s. Check out K. Mikhanovsky's first feature film "SONHOS DE PEIXE" ("Dreaming of Fish", shot in Brazil)