Taking Liberties [2007]

With the 'shockumentary' TAKING LIBERTIES, director Chris Atkins puts Tony Blair's New Labour government firmly in his crosshairs and takes aim. Reviled over his handling of the 'War on Terror' and special relationship with U.S. President George W Bush, Blair's image took a very public battering from which it never fully recovered. Accused of everything from destroying civil liberties to using the media to create a climate of fear, Britain's former PM became the perfect scapegoat for frustrated liberals with an axe to grind and no real sense of the wider issues that influenced his policy-making. But just as 'Bush-bashing' has swept America, so too has 'Blair-baiting' become a fashionable pastime among the U.K. left.

Much like Michael Moore sought to undermine the U.S. administration and make a fool out of the president with FARENHEIT 9/11, Atkins has constructed a similarly glib argument using a proven method of intercutting previously unseen footage with commentary from various talking heads–politicians, celebrities, human rights organisations, academics, and lawyers–and set it to the requisite pumping soundtrack (to attract the young vote). He also draws on isolated incidents of public injustice to strengthen his case, such as the teenage sisters who were detained for 36 hours for a peaceful protest. Taken out of context, these episodes form a persuasive argument, not to mention an alarming portrait of the British justice system. While TAKING LIBERTIES might be seen by some as pandering to public opinion, its heart is certainly in the right place, and if nothing else, it serves as a lesson in documentary filmmaking.

I saw this at the cinema and would urge all who value such rights as freedom of speech, habeus corpus, right to protest and privacy as fundamentals of British society to watch this film. Director Chris Atkins reveals how laws passed in recent years have eroded these and other rights, through the use of animation, personal testimonies and some informed commentary.

In spite of the subject matter, the film does not drag and entertains. And it is both reassuring and amusing to see the very ordinary, yet very special heroes in this film, standing up for our rights in the most British of ways. They are brave folk, but do nothing that the rest of us couldn't do too, if we could only get off our backsides..
This film will make you angry, sad, frustrated, and probably shock you - it means to. Its aim is to wake us all up, before it is too late, and all our liberties have been taken away.

Buy it, watch it, inflict in on all who know you - and then get them to do the same!
Incidentally, the excellent soundtrack is available on cd and a percentage goes to Amnesty.

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