Give Me Liberty (2019)

Directed by: Kirill Mikhanovsky | 110 minutes | drama | Actors: Chris Galust, Lauren ‘Lolo’ Spencer, Maksim Stoyanov, Steve Wolski, Michelle Caspar, Ben Derfel, Arkady Basin, Zoya Makhlina, Darya Ekamasova, Sheryl Sims-Daniels, John Day, Atavia Gold Star, Jehonathan Guzman

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Kirill Mikhanovsky and his family exchanged his native Moscow for the American city of Milwaukee. To try and build a new life as a Russian immigrant, he rolled from one job to another. He once transported disabled people, which is not always easy in a city where the winter cold regularly takes hold and where people from all walks of life try to live together. Mikhanovsky lasted nine months. “It was the hardest job of my life,” he would later say. But driving around did introduce him to all those different people that the city is rich in and embrace the chaos. Because no day is the same when you are a driver of a disabled bus in a big city. He incorporated the experiences that Mikhanovsky gained at that time in his second feature, ‘Give Me Liberty’ (2019), a delightful, infectious disorder that passes you in a hurry but still finds the time to share some valuable life lessons with you.

‘Give Me Liberty’ tells the story of Vic (Chris Galust), a 25-year-old Russian American who earns his living driving disabled people around Milwaukee. He does his best to get to his destination on time and in one piece, but rolls from one chaotic situation to another along the way. Kind-hearted as he is, he doesn’t leave anyone out in the cold. Not even if he gets into trouble with that. At a certain point, his boss is tired of always arriving late and he is fired. Nevertheless, he gets the key to the van back. Because who else is crazy enough to take over Vic’s job!? In the film we can look over his shoulders for a day, a very special experience when you see all the craziness he gets on his plate. One of his duties is to get Tracy (Lauren Spencer), a feisty ALS patient who is confined to a wheelchair, to her appointment on time. But when the Russian elderly from the flat where Vic’s grandfather also lives need his help to go to a funeral, Vic isn’t afraid to bring them along too. Pacemaker Dima (Maksim Stoyanov), a Russian boxer who claims to be the nephew of the deceased, is also allowed to join. Just like many others, by the way, because it gets pleasantly busy in the bus. Who cares about being on time…?

‘Give Me Liberty’ feels and looks like a tragicomedy that is taken from life, as if no script is followed at all, but the experiences are playing out before our eyes. That effect is further enhanced by the fact that Mikhanovsky has cast almost exclusively non-professional actors to carry his film. They actually play themselves (or a slightly exaggerated version of it) and do so with conviction. That is certainly impressive from the charismatic Galust, who sometimes walks around with his soul under his arm but is so dutiful and benevolent that he just keeps going. An enigmatic, nervous energy emanates from him. Vic does his best to make everyone happy, but every time things go wrong. For someone who is totally untrained as an actor, he performs exceptionally well. The strength of this film, in addition to that authenticity, is also the delightful disorder in which the viewer is drawn along and the frantic pace in which the chaotic scenes follow each other. In between all those hilarious, crazy situations, Mikhanovsky also finds the time and space to celebrate diversity and charity: in ‘Give Me Liberty’ everyone – with or without disabilities, regardless of age, origin, religion or gender – counts. Sometimes there are some tensions, but if this film proves one thing it is that we can all live together without significant problems.

Chaos in a film can easily derail, but in ‘Give Me Liberty’ director Mikhanovsky has things under control so well that it is completely believable that the motley crew on a funeral bus ends up after a booze in a handicapped disco. Controlled chaos, in other words, with an appropriately robust editing that ensures that it is always a surprise where the film is going and how Mikhanovsky manages to save himself from the mess again. ‘Give Me Liberty’ is a hilarious, quirky tragicomedy that captures the full life of the city between bouncing around in all directions, celebrates the diversity of humanity and has its heart in the right place.