Product Details

• Actors: Jurgen Vogel, Sabine Timoteo, Andre Hennicke, Manfred Zapatka, Judith Engel
• Directors: Matthias Glasner
• Format: NTSC, Subtitled, Anamorphic, Color, DTS Surround Sound
• Language: German
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Benten Films
• DVD Release Date: June 24, 2008
• Run Time: 163 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00177Y9SE
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #226,487 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Strong, powerful, and disturbing... A critique of a sexualized society. --Ian Johnston, BRIGHT LIGHTS FILM JOURNAL

Product Description

Winner of a prestigious Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival, German auteur Matthias Glasner's brave and complex drama contemplates the terror of loneliness and whether love can be a salvation to damaged psyches. THE FREE WILL (a/k/a DER FREIE WILLE) stars co-writer Jurgen Vogel (whose raw performance won him Best Actor awards at both Tribeca and Chicago) as Theo, a convicted sexual predator who has just been released from psychiatric detention. His fear of women stirs a profound, unfulfilled longing within him, making his reintegration into society an unbearable ordeal. Can hope exist in his budding relationship with Nettie (Sabine Timoteo), herself a victim of abuse, as they embark on a journey to the limits of free will? With a slyly stylized balance of brutal suspense and hesitant hopefulness, Glasner's emotional directness is never less than compassionate.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very Disturbing and Serious Subject Matter, July 9, 2008

By 

Hans Arp (Maine USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Free Will (DVD)

I did not read anything about this film before purchasing it and, due to an interest in the German langauge, I generally buy most German language films which become available on DVD. I usually do not watch films with much or any violent content. The Free Will features several scenes of brutal assault and rape which are difficult to make it through. There are many people to whom I would never suggest they watch this film. It is a depiction of a serial rapist and the difficulties he encounters while attempting to cope with living life outside of a rehabilitation facility. Jurgen Vogel gives an intense performance in a very demanding role. The film-making is quite effective and the camera unflinchingly places us near the troubling events as they unfold. This film is worth seeing but is certainly not for everyone. There are moments of tenderness, redemption, agony, brutality, desperation and regret. I am interested to read any other reviews people might post here.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Selfish genes, July 25, 2009

By 

Luc REYNAERT (Beernem, Belgium) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Free Will (DVD)

This physically and emotionally extremely violent movie is a deep meditation on an essential philosophical problem regarding mankind: man's free will, his freedom and liberty of action.
It is the story of a man who tries to master his sexually sadistic drive against women.
With harsh explicit shots the camera shows the uphill struggle against this obsession baked into the genes: `It is inside me. It is inside me'. How can I get rid of it?
This movie, with a sublime Jurgen Vogel in an extremely difficult role, is one of the greatest masterpieces of all time.
It is a must see for all those who want to know who we really are.