Day 4: You're Some Kind Of Freak, Aren't You?

EASY RIDER (1969)
Directed by Dennis Hopper
Starring: Dennis Hopper, Peter Fonda, Jack Nicholson

This is a film that speaks to people.  It was the cinematic voice of a generation.  It finally told the story of the disaffected youth of America, about how their dreams for the future were slowly dying.  It's like Kerouac's On The Road for the 60's. 

Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda, two graduates of the "Roger Corman" school, decided to go off and make a movie about two guys traveling the countryside, smoking a lot of grass, drinking a lot of beer and getting hassled by The Man on their way to New Orleans for Mardi Gras.  With Hopper directing and Fonda producing, two young up-and-comers got their chance to tell a story about their generation.  This had already happened in the music world, but at the time, most filmmakers and studios shied away from anything about the hippie culture.  Stories abound regarding the production time of this film, which was just as wild, if not more so, than what happens on screen.  It's a miracle this film was finished at all.  But it was released to wide acclaim and made stars of Hopper, Fonda and Jack Nicholson.

The only problem is this: does it still work, now, forty-plus years later?  And what about first-time viewers like me?  What will we think about it?

Well, here's what I think: it was...okay.  Not life-altering, not earth-shattering.  Just okay.  There is a lot to like here, to be sure.  If you're into great cinematography, you're in for a treat.  America's countryside is beautifully captured.  Dennis Hopper is a treat to watch as the high-strung Billy.  And Jack Nicholson's turn as a drunken ACLU lawyer named George Hanson is just as fun, especially in the scene where he's introduced to "grass" for the first time.  Also, the scene near the end where everyone drops acid is (from what I'd imagine) pretty accurate in its interpretation of that experience.  It was certainly innovative from a filmmaking point of view. 

However, it's really difficult for me to get into a movie with no plot.  Yeah, I know Billy (Hopper) and Captain America (Fonda) are on their way to New Orleans for Mardi Gras.  But...why?  Where did they come from?  Why are they going there?  These are two pretty important questions.  Now, I am completely open to the interpretation that there may be no answer, and these are just two crazy kids out for kicks.  I can buy that.  And maybe, if you were watching this in the 60's and stoned out of your gourd (and if you were watching this in the 60's you were stoned out of your gourd, admit it), that was understood.  They're just two wanderers with no place to go and all the time in the world to get there.  I get it.  But it makes it really hard for me to care about them.  Which, in turn, makes it kind of hard for me to stay interested.

Still, it's a treat, especially for those who are into the independent film scene, as this is pretty much the prototype for every independent film since, which is a good thing.  I'm sure this movie inspired many to just pick up a camera and start shooting.