Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageTaking Liberties (2007)
Director: Chris Atkins
Movie review
From Time Out London
The TV documentary is dead! Long live the cinema-feature documentary! With ‘The Most Important Film of the Decade!’ as a gently tongue-in-cheek poster tagline, Chris Atkins’ call to arms – or call to protest – offers a well-documented and cautionary outline of Tony Blair’s regressive record on human-rights legislation, narrated by David Morrissey and accompanied by a Radio 2 rock-track featuring Radiohead, Oasis et al. Part analytical essay, part comic PowerPoint lecture and part campaigner’s handbook, it assembles an impressive number of (mostly familiar) cross-party talking heads as it ticks off assaults on such basic rights as freedom of speech and assembly, the rights to privacy and protest and the presumption of innocence and a fair trial. Justified pre- and post-9/11 security concerns have, it argues, been exploited by successive Blair administrations to justify a dangerous accretion of state power at the expense of the public realm. Nothing new here for activists or regular ‘Newsnight’ viewers; rather, ‘Taking Liberties’ seems designed as a campaign aid and intended – in its careful exclusion of over-heated or passionate voices – as a putative appeal to slumbering Middle England.Author: Wally Hammond
Time Out London Issue 1920: June 6-12 2007
Cast & crew
Director: Chris Atkins
Producer: Chris Atkins, Nicky Moss
With: Mark Thomas
Genre(s): Documentaries
Rated: 15
Duration: 88 mins
UK Release: Jun 8 2007
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Has David Cronenberg turned tame?
Has director David Cronenberg veered too far from his radical and bloody roots with new film 'A Dangerous Method'?
The 10 worst date movies
Just in time for Valentine's Day, we present ten of the least romantic films ever made
Where to watch this year's Oscar-nominated films
Find out where to watch 2012's Oscar-nominated films in London cinemas
10 unlikely badboy biopics
Featuring Phil Collins, Jeremy Clarkson, Nick Clegg, David Starkey and a host of other unlikely subjects
Interview: Sean Durkin on 'Martha Marcy May Marlene'
The first-time director of the brilliant new thriller discusses religious cults and robot boxing
Pop-up cinema for Valentine's Day
Side-step romantic clichés with some alternative Valentine’s viewing
What do you think?
Post your review now