The Delirious Fictions of William Klein

An addition to Criterion's no-frills “Eclipse” series of “lost, forgotten, or overshadowed classics,” this three-disc set presents a trio of feature films written and directed by William Klein, an American expatriate photographer who became a darling of the French avant-garde with his glib critiques—disguised as narrative feature films—of his native country. Virtually unknown to all save diehard devotees of “art house” cinema, Klein was perfectly positioned in the 1960s to catch the New Wave's tail end and embrace the anti-American countercultural movement. His attitudes are particularly, if not subtly, evident in Mr. Freedom (1969), in which ham actor John Abbey plays an obnoxious superhero from the United States who flies to Paris to free the City of Light from the grip of communist infiltrators (heavy-handed in the extreme, it's hard to imagine that this alleged satire was any funnier in the Vietnam Era than it is now). Somewhat less annoying—though similarly dated and remarkably unengaging—are Who Are You, Polly Maggoo? (1966) and The Model Couple (1977): the first, seen through the eyes of a fashion model from Brooklyn, lampoons Parisian haute couture in a tedious and predictable manner; the second, depicting an “average” French couple being subjected to mind-control experiments by the government, is a tiresome and painfully obvious slap at conformity. If anything, this boxed set proves that some artists are obscure for good reason. Klein is one of them. Not recommended. (E. Hulse)