Glenn’s Pick – Glenn Webb, Director of Programs –
There is definitely some good humor in the movie GIVE ME LIBERTY, but it would be wrong to approach this just as a comedy. The predicaments of the protagonist are easily recognizable to most of us because it is the experience of operating within a broken system, namely the condition wherein order to accomplish the purpose of the organization, one must break the rules. This is certainly the case of our system for providing crucial transportation for the mobility-impaired members of our society. But a documentary about this problem would be a very different movie, and perhaps not as effective in focusing on the very human and very personal aspects, which this movie delivers in spades. The performances of the actors are revelatory, and though the sense of urgency drives the action, still the movie holds space for the human interactions that ground us, define us, and keep us engaged in making things a little better.
There is definitely some good humor in the movie GIVE ME LIBERTY, but it would be wrong to approach this just as a comedy. The predicaments of the protagonist are easily recognizable to most of us because it is the experience of operating within a broken system, namely the condition wherein order to accomplish the purpose of the organization, one must break the rules. This is certainly the case of our system for providing crucial transportation for the mobility-impaired members of our society. But a documentary about this problem would be a very different movie, and perhaps not as effective in focusing on the very human and very personal aspects, which this movie delivers in spades. The performances of the actors are revelatory, and though the sense of urgency drives the action, still the movie holds space for the human interactions that ground us, define us, and keep us engaged in making things a little better.