what do it mean to be free . can you make a list of right . be freedom do what you want without harm others . or be it a feeling . . . . can you get it back . filmmaker jennifer fox start her six hour epic documentary with vague idea and a determination to get on track . her life be a mix of liberate and fuck up . she successful in her job . she have a nice boyfriend . she also do long term deep n meaningful with a married guy . and yes and she totally open with everyone about everything . but jennifer and forty something and jewish and have the advantage of living in a fairly free society . when she start explore woman situation in other country and her search for freedom take on very different perspective . even a she go through crisis of miscarriage and conscience in her own life and her problem be dwarf by woman whose daily live include rape and prostitution and female circumcision and sexual abuse and near slavery . men talk about what they think while woman talk about what they feel . that the difference . confession of a free woman be a film write in the language of feeling . a different language . the language of woman . fox get involve with woman who be in desperate circumstance . with woman who be and or become and her friend . she treat all a equal . the shared emotion be a bridge of understand for u a we watch spellbound . the film title perhaps evoke erica jong famous novel and fear of fly . both work address the complexity of relationship . desire . love . dependence . and freedom . but fox be skin flayingly autobiographical . when stuff hit the fan and it real . and we experience it with her . fox and jong have use a common symbol of fly to evoke the sense of freedom . for fox and it hearken back to childhood . she would practice take offs and landing with her father who have a small two seater plane . she idealise father a free . a a man and he could do anything he want . jennifer follow in dad footstep in many way and but then she hit a time in life where different perspective be kick in with a harshness . her best friend have a brain tumour . she herself doesn not know if she want a child . and be her freedom base relationship really satisfy . fly evolves in a very female orientated way . she have always be acutely aware of her gender in term of freedom . be or not be control by men . one of her main technique be to pass the camera during group conversation . she address problem woman face in an archetypically female way by talk about them and and share emotion . while it succeed in this to an extent that be almost groundbreaking and the film will divide audience equally . men may need to make a big jump to understand woman in the way woman do . arguably and though and it be worth the effort . woman still do not have parity even in the west . in some country and they be little good off than livestock . in purely scientific term and this be a massive loss to humanity . a loss of potential . even before we get on to human right represent by fail to appreciate the value of others and we devalue ourselves and whatever the gender . it just so happen that woman have often get a very short straw . so there be a good case to suspend traditional judgement and let the film speak in it own language before finalise your opinion . and here why you may feel it be an effort . fox be an accomplished filmmaker and but her marathon voice over have the tone of someone talk to a child or young student . ( be it a mistake commonly make by woman who have be patronise . to then patronise . a vicious cycle and but one that be explode by feminist philosopher radcliffe richards in the 90 ) . secondly and her narcissistic self analysis can be like woody allen without the comedy and sex in the city without the glamour and or ally mcbeal without a decent script . it take her six hour of film ( and several year of her life ) to see what friend and family can see in five minute ( she fall in love with the wrong people duh . i have do that too and but do you really want to know . ) . thirdly and she argue from the particular to the general ( the erroneous logic of and because this example be true and it must be true for all case ) . such flaw and quasi philosophical rumination would be laughable be they not accompany by so much anguish . fox grand exploration lack any visible academic basis and it be tempt to believe she be a bit up herself . the most interesting part of the film and the life of other woman and be deal with far too superficially . it be easy to see her a a wide eyed american and fly in for a three hour tour of the horrific asian brothel and then tell u her amazing fact a if she be the first person to discover them . but for all it many flaw and fly confession of a free woman and be a considered triumph of film making . it stay with you the way trivial event share with close friend stay with you . so even the flaws work . jennifer fox put herself through ordeal on camera . she expose her private life in a way few people could bear . remarkably and she can be experience dire personal struggle yet still the professional in her capture it on film . then we have ( after equally impressive editing by nil pagh andersen ) a lengthy work that be ask you to spend the best part of a day to watch it . that be brave . and this reviewer be grateful that he be convince to do it .