Eclipse Series 9: The Delirious Fictions of William Klein (Who Are You, Polly Maggoo? / Mr. Freedom / The Model Couple) (The Criterion Collection)
by '
List Price:
Our Price: $25.67
You Save: $19.28 (43%)
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Buy Used: from $19.50 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD details
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD details
Actor: Delirious Fictions of William KleinDirector: '
Brand: Image Entertainment
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); French (Original Language)
Format: Black & White, Box set, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.66:1
Running Time: 293 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-05-20
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Criterion Collection
DVD Reviews of Eclipse Series 9: The Delirious Fictions of William Klein (Who Are You, Polly Maggoo? / Mr. Freedom / The Model Couple) (The Criterion Collection)
DVD Review: FUNNY, OUTRAGEOUS, EXCESSIVE
Summary: 3 Stars
These aren't great films, nor are they serious artistic achievements. They're low-budget, campy burlesques of contemporary culture. While I couldn't take them seriously, the movies do manage--in their wacky, irreverent, ham-fisted way--to successfully parody the world we live in. MR. FREEDOM, my least favorite of the three movies, centers around a superhero who, when he's not wearing his caped red-white-and-blue crusader uniform, walks around in a slick, tailored suit and cowboy hat. Of course, there's always some nefarious global enemy Mr. Freedom has to defeat. As Klein makes clear, everything and anything can be justified in the name of "freedom," even going nuclear. When freedom becomes a universal pretext, you end up debasing the word, hurting the very cause you claim you are fighting for, and potentially even destroying yourself in the process. At least that is Klein's argument. Klein effectively caricatures the right wing. He skewers -- then roasts them. But subtle he is not. The movie gets too campy and heavy handed.
In WHO ARE YOU, POLLY MAGGOO?, Klein attacks the fashion industry. Polly is a model from Brooklyn who travels to Paris, where she makes a splash in the world of haute couture. Everybody thinks they know Polly, she's just a pretty face with whom everybody is falling in love, including a Prince. But there's much more to her than meets the eye. She becomes the subject of a documentary that seeks to reveal the person behind the glamorous exterior. For awhile, she's all the rage. Still, fads are fickle, and by the end of the movie poor Polly is falling out of fashion. Everybody fell in love with the image, not with the real person behind it, who is more beautiful than the image. This "kaleidoscopic deconstruction" grew out of the years Klein spent as a photographer for Vogue magazine. It's interesting what Klein does here with black and white still photography as well as collages made up of magazine cut-outs.
In THE MODEL COUPLE, an average couple is chosen by the French government, held up as a model for society to study, and subjected to perpetual television monitoring as well as some very intrusive scientific tests. In our age of reality TV shows such as "Big Brother," THE MODEL COUPLE is a portrait of what popular culture has become. There are two wonderful scenes where Klein speeds the movie up, one where the couple set up their furniture in the studio that is now their home, and one where we see them eating together at a table over several days. They eat, argue, make up, kiss -- Klein manages to squeeze a whole relationship into just a few minutes. It's really lovely to watch. Unfortunately, the film too often veers toward parody that is too blunt and excessive for its own good.
The two latter films are in French with optional English subtitles. MR. FREEDOM is in English.
POLLY MAGOO is in black and white. The other two are in color.
Although made in the 60s and 70s, Klein's films are still relevant. Comparisons to George W. Bush, John McCain, Sarah Palin, the war in Iraq, "freedom fries," the Patriot Act, the continued influence of a vapid fashion industry on consumer culture, reality TV, and intrusive government -- all these comparisons are not only inevitable but will, at times, make these movies seem downright prescient. Alas, Klein too often wields a club when a rapier might have been more effective. The films hardly ever manage to climb out of B-moviedom.
More Eclipse Series 9: The Delirious Fictions of William Klein (Who Are You, Polly Maggoo? / Mr. Freedom / The Model Couple) (The Criterion Collection) reviews:
1
1
Description of Eclipse Series 9: The Delirious Fictions of William Klein (Who Are You, Polly Maggoo? / Mr. Freedom / The Model Couple) (The Criterion Collection)
DELIRIOUS FICTIONS OF WILLIAM KLEIN - DVD MovieBestsellers in DVD
![The Story of Jeremiah [VHS] Image](/images/noimg.gif)
The Story of Jeremiah [VHS]Vision Video; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Wresting With God [VHS]by Vision Video
Vision Video; Published: 1990-10-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
Study Bible Video with Workbook [VHS]Spring Arbor Distributors; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $7.95
Price in other shops:
Tempo:Childrens TV Favourites Video [VHS]HarperCollins Audio; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $9.17
Price in other shops:
Tempo.Herbs:Parseley'Sb/ Party Video [VHS]HarperCollins Audio; VHS Tape; VHS Video
![Strike the Original Match [VHS] Image](/images/Strike-the-Original-Match-VHS-0001374079-X.jpg)
Strike the Original Match [VHS]New Liberty Films; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
![Medjugorje The Miracles and the Message [VHS] Image](/images/Medjugorje-The-Miracles-and-the-Message-VHS-0001373293-X.jpg)
Medjugorje The Miracles and the Message [VHS]JPN Film Production; Release date: 1995-12-15; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $29.99
Mayo Clinic Echocardiography Review Course for Boards and Recertification DVD 2008by Mayo
DVD
Price in other shops:
Pediatric Diagnostic Imaging DVD: Single Userby Oakstone
DVD
Price in other shops:
Cost Accounting [VHS]by Charles T. Horngren, George Foster, Srikant M. Datar, Howard Teall
Pearson Canada, Toronto; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Similar DVDs, VHS Video, Audio CDs
Eclipse Series 1: Early Bergman (Torment / Crisis / Port of Call / Thirst / To Joy) (The Criterion Collection)Image Entertainment; Release date: 2007-03-27; DVD
Best price: $40.31
Price in other shops:
Eclipse Series 25: Basil Dearden's London Underground (Sapphire / The League of Gentlemen / Victim / All Night Long) (The Criterion Collection)IMG; Release date: 2011-01-25; DVD
Best price: $25.00
Price in other shops:
Eclipse Series 5: The First Films of Samuel Fuller (The Baron of Arizona / I Shot Jesse James / The Steel Helmet) (The Criterion Collection)Image Entertainment; Release date: 2007-08-14; DVD
Best price: $28.79
Price in other shops:
Eclipse Series 19: Chantal Akerman in the Seventies (La Chambre / Hotel Monterey / News from Home / Je Tu Il Elle / Les Rendez-Vous d'Anna) (The Criterion Collection)Image Entertainment; Release date: 2010-01-19; DVD
Best price: $23.24
Price in other shops:
Eclipse Series 14: Rossellini's History Films - Renaissance and Enlightenment (Blaise Pascal / The Age of the Medici / Cartesius) (The Criterion Collection)Image Entertainment; Release date: 2009-01-13; DVD
Best price: $35.99
Price in other shops:
Eclipse Series 2: The Documentaries of Louis Malle (The Criterion Collection)IMAGE ENT.; Release date: 2007-04-24; DVD
Best price: $43.78
Price in other shops:
Pierrot le Fou (The Criterion Collection)Image Entertainment; Release date: 2008-02-19; DVD
Best price: $49.24
Eclipse Series 18: Dusan Makavejev- Free RadicalImage Entertainment; Release date: 2009-10-13; DVD
Best price: $26.19
Price in other shops:
Eclipse Series 8: Lubitsch Musicals (The Love Parade / The Smiling Lieutenant / One Hour with You / Monte Carlo) (The Criterion Collection)Image Entertainment; Release date: 2008-02-12; DVD
Best price: $32.76
Price in other shops:
Eclipse Series 4: Raymond Bernard (Wooden Crosses / Les Miserables) (The Criterion Collection)Image Entertainment; Release date: 2007-07-17; DVD
Best price: $22.50
Price in other shops: