Chicago – Moving from writing plays for the stage to writing for film may seem like a natural transition. But at the roots in each of these separate storytelling forms there are different ways of formulating the connection between dialogue and visuals. Alice Austen made this transition when she wrote – with director Kirill Mikhanovsky – the story and screenplay for “Give Me Liberty.”
Drive, He Said: Inside the Med Van in ‘Give Me Liberty’
Photo credit: Music Box Films
“Give Me Liberty” involves medical transport driver Vic (Chris Galust), who is perpetually late for his mostly handicapped clients, but it’s not his fault. Roads are closed for a protest, and no one else can shuttle his Russian grandfather and émigré friends to a funeral. The new route uproots his scheduled clients, particularly Tracy (Lauren “Lolo” Spencer in a breakout performance), a vibrant young woman with Als. As the day goes from hectic to off-the-rails,...
Drive, He Said: Inside the Med Van in ‘Give Me Liberty’
Photo credit: Music Box Films
“Give Me Liberty” involves medical transport driver Vic (Chris Galust), who is perpetually late for his mostly handicapped clients, but it’s not his fault. Roads are closed for a protest, and no one else can shuttle his Russian grandfather and émigré friends to a funeral. The new route uproots his scheduled clients, particularly Tracy (Lauren “Lolo” Spencer in a breakout performance), a vibrant young woman with Als. As the day goes from hectic to off-the-rails,...
- 9/19/2019
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Who’s game for a wild ride (not really a joyride) in a big clunky van through the mean streets of…Milwaukee? Hmmm, well it’s not exactly the twisty roads of San Francisco in Bullet, though I was reminded of the Harold Lloyd cab ride with Babe Ruth in Speedy. Well, it’s not life or death sequences as in The French Connection, but it’s a sure bet that your nerves will be on edge (not in a funhouse way) for most of Give Me Liberty.
No, the title doesn’t refer to the Revolutionary War. This is a modern fable with the title being the company name of a private shuttle service that uses a specially equipped van to transport the physically challenged. We focus on one of the drivers of said company Vic (Chris Gault), a twentysomething first generation Russian-American. After a quiet talk with a bed-ridden buddy,...
No, the title doesn’t refer to the Revolutionary War. This is a modern fable with the title being the company name of a private shuttle service that uses a specially equipped van to transport the physically challenged. We focus on one of the drivers of said company Vic (Chris Gault), a twentysomething first generation Russian-American. After a quiet talk with a bed-ridden buddy,...
- 9/6/2019
- by Jim Batts
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Give Me Liberty director Kirill Mikhanovsky with producer/co-writer Alice Austen: "We didn't have the title for a very long time. In the process of the writing of scenes and simple plots, we're talking about more profound things, philosophizing, if you will." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Kirill Mikhanovsky and Alice Austen joined me in New York for an in-depth conversation on their madcap adventure Give Me Liberty, shot by Wyatt Garfield (Kent Jones's Diane), starring Chris Galust, Maxim Stoyanov, and Lauren 'Lolo' Spencer, with Arkady Basin, Zoya Makhlina, Darya Ekamasova, Sheryl Sims-Daniels, Atavia Gold Star, Steve Wolski, and Josette Daniels.
Lolo Spencer in New York for Give Me Liberty Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
We discussed how Maxim Stoyanov kept saying "Leonardo DiCaprio dies at the end of Titanic!", the evolution of the screenplay, Karl Ove Knausgaard and Alexis de Tocqueville, the determination it took to make Give Me Liberty, and...
Kirill Mikhanovsky and Alice Austen joined me in New York for an in-depth conversation on their madcap adventure Give Me Liberty, shot by Wyatt Garfield (Kent Jones's Diane), starring Chris Galust, Maxim Stoyanov, and Lauren 'Lolo' Spencer, with Arkady Basin, Zoya Makhlina, Darya Ekamasova, Sheryl Sims-Daniels, Atavia Gold Star, Steve Wolski, and Josette Daniels.
Lolo Spencer in New York for Give Me Liberty Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
We discussed how Maxim Stoyanov kept saying "Leonardo DiCaprio dies at the end of Titanic!", the evolution of the screenplay, Karl Ove Knausgaard and Alexis de Tocqueville, the determination it took to make Give Me Liberty, and...
- 9/2/2019
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
How do you follow a stark drama about the struggles of a small Brazilian fishing village? If you’re Kirill Mikhanovsky, you wait 13 years and then direct a madcap dark comedy about driving people with disabilities around Milwaukee. The Russian director’s latest, “Give Me Liberty,” is a complex ensemble piece about a man who just can’t seem to make anything go right.
Chris Galust plays a Russian-American driver of a medical van, who shuttles an eccentric cast of characters around the city on the day of a riot. He is committed to driving a group of elderly Russians to a funeral, but he also wants to help a young black woman with Als, an Elvis-obsessed woman, and many more in this sprawling, chaotic movie.
The film, Mikhanovsky’s first feature since his 2003 debut “Fish Dreams,” draws from the director’s personal experiences. Before becoming a filmmaker, he worked...
Chris Galust plays a Russian-American driver of a medical van, who shuttles an eccentric cast of characters around the city on the day of a riot. He is committed to driving a group of elderly Russians to a funeral, but he also wants to help a young black woman with Als, an Elvis-obsessed woman, and many more in this sprawling, chaotic movie.
The film, Mikhanovsky’s first feature since his 2003 debut “Fish Dreams,” draws from the director’s personal experiences. Before becoming a filmmaker, he worked...
- 8/5/2019
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
In the pantheon of movies set within the constraints of a single, hectic day — from “Dog Day Afternoon” to “Dazed and Confused” — “Give Me Liberty” earns points for cramming its plot with new twists every step of the way. The plight of young Russian-American Vic (newcomer Chris Galust) as he speeds around Milwaukee in a handicapped transport and juggles a series of setbacks unfolds through a series of complications that collapse into chaos every few minutes. But even as that process grows exhausting across two packed hours, it’s a dizzying blast to watch Vic’s day fall apart again and again, as he struggles to mine meaning from the chaos.
Director Kirill Mikhanovsky’s sophomore effort is a breathless dark comedy that takes occasional tragic and bittersweet detours as it maps out the soft-spoken Vic’s hectic world. It doesn’t take long for Vic’s journey to become an overwhelming,...
Director Kirill Mikhanovsky’s sophomore effort is a breathless dark comedy that takes occasional tragic and bittersweet detours as it maps out the soft-spoken Vic’s hectic world. It doesn’t take long for Vic’s journey to become an overwhelming,...
- 1/25/2019
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.