Vashirdfel Simply A Masterpiece

Ghoulumbe Better than most people think

Limerculer A waste of 90 minutes of my life

Plustown A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

freuled I caught this series of documentaries on TV by accident and it cost me a night's sleep; I was so intrigued that I couldn't stop watching.The way in which Jennifer Fox explores her own sense of being a woman juxtaposed to the perspectives of women from all over the world on themselves is fascinating. It also seemed to me that Jennifer was very genuine in documenting her own life, including her own lapses of judgement from time to time (i.e. unprotected sex in an HIV infected country), and also her most dark moments and her happiest moments. This made the documentary very real and raw, and all the more educational. It also made the stories of the women around the world come to life more. I thought it was beautiful how Jennifer's own quest for freedom and for motherhood, and her own struggle to find true love were contrasted to global women's issues such as female genital mutilation. Those who say that Jennifer's struggles are petty compared to the global issues and shouldn't have been shown in this way are entirely missing the point (in my not-so-humble opinion). If this was a scripted TV series - perhaps the point is valid. But this is someone's actual life we are seeing. These are the defining struggles in her womanhood and they absolutely compare to the global issues - as every woman's self-defining struggles do. There is nothing bigger than figuring out who you are, and then take action accordingly. One can see in this documentary that the more Jennifer begins to understand herself as a woman, the more she understands (and can identify with) the other women around the world. It's hugely important. I also thought it was very interesting to see Jennifer's mother, aunt, father and grandmother and hear their perspectives on motherhood, marriage, sexuality etc. It made me think of my own parents' idea of me as a woman and how that has influenced my upbringing and how it still influences their dreams and expectations for my future.All in all, I thought the 6 hours weren't enough. I would have gladly sat through another 6 (not all in the same night though!). This documentary made me reflect upon my own life and upon the lives of women all over the world. I'm also really curious to know how Jennifer's life developed, and also how all the other women are doing now. How is the young singer from the UK, for example? And has L'Dawn won her alimentation court battle yet? Conclusion: well worth watching.

bob-nelson-1 So, after the film's subject drones for hours about various women's issues, I'm supposed to take her seriously as a woman of substance and a feminist. Give me a break. What kind of feminist:1. Gets involved in bad relationship after bad relationship without recognizing her own self-destructive behavior and poor choice in partners? 2. Has an affair with another woman's husband and (apparently) feels no remorse for destroying a marriage? 3. I may not have heard this correctly, so my apologies if I misunderstood, but did I hear her say she'd had multiple abortions? I'm pro-choice, but abortion isn't birth control, lady. If you want women to achieve true sexual liberation, you best start behaving like a woman worthy of it. In my mind, Jennifer Fox is not a woman to admire and this film is nothing but a vehicle for her own neurosis and narcissism.As a husband and father of two daughters, I shudder at the idea of women looking at Ms. Fox as a role model.

avis2783 Jennifer Fox did what most women would cringe to do...she discussed (and sometimes showed) all the intimate details of her sex life and she did it very openly. Sometimes her company consisted of men and women who were not hip to her ways and she could have faced severe consequences. Flying is about every woman and no woman. Some of these women have been free to explore their sexuality while some don't even know what an orgasm is (even after marriage). Fox did a brave thing by addressing not only the sexuality issues women have globally, but the issues we have with our mothers, our fathers, our siblings, nieces, nephews, body image, pregnancy,divorce, and several other factors. To keep it this real, it can't always be pretty so from Le Dawn's divorce woes, to Mindy the soccer mom, you can't help but identify with at least someone in the film. If you have an open mind, better yet an open heart this will be a good film for you. Feminist or not.

Chris_Docker What does it mean to be free? Can you make a list of rights? Is freedom doing what you want without harming others? Or is it a feeling . . . ? Can you get it back? Filmmaker Jennifer Fox starts her six hour epic documentary with vague ideas and a determination to get on track. Her life is a mix of 'liberated' and 'fucked up'. She's successful in her job. She has a nice boyfriend. She's also doing long-term deep 'n' meaningful with a married guy. And yes, she's totally open with everyone about everything.But Jennifer, forty-something and Jewish, has the advantage of living in a fairly 'free' society. When she starts exploring women's situations in other countries, her search for freedom takes on very different perspectives. Even as she goes through crises of miscarriage and conscience in her own life, her problems are dwarfed by women whose daily lives include rape, prostitution, female circumcision, sexual abuse and near slavery."Men talk about what they think; women talk about what they feel. That's the difference!" Confessions of a Free Woman is a film written in the language of feelings. A different language. The language of women. Fox gets involved with women who are in desperate circumstances. With women who are, or become, her friends. She treats all as equals. The shared emotions are a bridge of understanding for us as we watch spellbound.The film's title perhaps evokes Erica Jong's famous novel, Fear of Flying. Both works address the complexity of relationships. Desire. Love. Dependence. And 'freedom.' But Fox is skin-flayingly autobiographical. When stuff hits the fan, it's real. And we experience it with her. Fox and Jong have used a common symbol of flying to evoke the sense of freedom. For Fox, it hearkens back to childhood. She would practice take-offs and landings with her father - who had a small two-seater plane. She idealises father as 'free'. As a man, he could do "anything he wanted." Jennifer follows in dad's footsteps in many ways, but then she hits a time in life where different perspectives are kicking in - with a harshness. Her best friend has a brain tumour. She herself doesn't know if she wants a child. And are her 'freedom-based' relationships really satisfying? 'Flying' evolves in a very female-orientated way. She has always been acutely aware of her gender in terms of freedom. Being/not being controlled by men. One of her main techniques is to 'pass the camera' during group conversations. She addresses problems women face in an archetypically female way – by talking about them, and sharing emotion. While it succeeds in this to an extent that is almost groundbreaking, the film will divide audiences equally.Men may need to make a bigger jump to understand women in the way women do. Arguably, though, it is worth the effort. Women still don't have parity even in the West. In some countries, they are little better off than livestock. In purely scientific terms, this is a massive loss to humanity. A loss of potential. Even before we get on to human rights: by failing to appreciate the value of others, we devalue ourselves, whatever the gender. It just so happens that women have often got a very short straw. So there is a good case to suspend traditional judgement and let the film speak in its own language before finalising your opinion.And here's why you may feel it is an effort. Fox is an accomplished filmmaker, but her marathon voice-over has the tone of someone talking to a child or young student. (Is it a mistake commonly made by women who have been patronised? To then patronise? – a vicious cycle, but one that was exploded by feminist philosopher Radcliffe Richards in the 90's). Secondly, her narcissistic self-analysis can be like Woody Allen without the comedy, Sex in the City without the glamour, or Ally McBeal without a decent script. It takes her six hours of film (and several years of her life) to see what friends and family can see in five minutes (She falls in love with the wrong people – duh! – I've done that too, but did you really want to know?). Thirdly, she argues from the particular to the general (the erroneous logic of, 'because this example is true, it must be true for all cases'). Such flawed, quasi-philosophical ruminations would be laughable were they not accompanied by so much anguish. Fox's grand exploration lacks any visible academic basis and it is tempting to believe she is a bit up herself. The most interesting part of the film, the lives of other women, is dealt with far too superficially. It is easy to see her as a wide-eyed American, flying in for a three-hour tour of the horrific Asian brothel, then telling us her amazing facts as if she was the first person to discover them.But for all its many flaws, Flying – Confessions of a Free Woman, is a considered triumph of film-making. It stays with you the way trivial events shared with close friends stay with you. So even the flaws work. Jennifer Fox puts herself through ordeals on camera. She exposes her private life in a way few people could bear. Remarkably, she can be experiencing dire personal struggles yet still the professional in her captures it on film. Then we have (after equally impressive editing by Nils Pagh Andersen) a lengthy work that is asking you to spend the best part of a day to watch it. That is brave.And this reviewer is grateful that he was convinced to do it.