We blew it...

...or did they?

Another step on the journey through the AFI Top 100 (10th Anniversary Edition).

Film 51

51.  "Easy Rider" (AFI Rank #84)

I know I got to this last year before abandoning the quest.  This is a confounding film, one that I've now watched in its entirety 3 times.  I still don't think it makes any more sense to me now than it did the previous two viewings, but I'm going to muddle through.

I've taken drugs.  I've taken every drug you see consumed in this film.  What I didn't do during that time was get a major film studio to back me as I took drugs, rode a motorcycle across the country, take more drugs, camp, take more drugs, ride my motorcycle some more, take more drugs, get naked with Toni Basil of "Mickey" fame, and take more drugs.  Wait.  The film studio backed them because they got a film out of it.  The film, of course, featured all of the above.  It was a wild experiment which really amounted to a counterculture western.  In researching it, there's a quote from the executive of the film company who released it saying (paraphrase) "I have no fucking idea what I just watched, but it's going to make a fuck of a lot of money."  He was right.

Released in 1969, this film, directed by Dennis Hopper, was a wildly popular film.  Telling the tale of a couple of stuntmen as they cash in on the drug deal of a lifetime, this film is a travelogue, not unlike "The African Queen," only populated with a couple of drugged out hippies who encounter hostile natives instead of monkeys.  Or are the natives and the monkeys cut from the same cloth?  Relying on a series of wild cuts, flash forwards, repetitive shots, and some absolutely gorgeous vistas, this film has the makings of a great piece of art.  I'm not sure it ever executes it, though.  I'm left, as I watch it, incredibly dissatisfied with why I even care about the two guys I'm watching.  There isn't much compelling about either of them, except that Peter Fonda as Wyatt (Captain America) is kind of an enigma, and too cool for the world.  Billy, well...Billy, as played by Dennis Hopper, just kinda feels like he's along for the party.  Wait.  I may have just had a revelation.

The counterculture of the 60s, as I experienced it as it continued on through the traveling band of weirdos that followed the Grateful Dead in the 80s, felt like two separate camps.  Those that "got it," and those who just wanted to have a good time. Fonda "gets it."  Hopper just wants to be stoned.  Fonda's "We blew it." in the penultimate scene certainly underscores this.  Perhaps these two are meant to be archetypes of the society in which they found themselves.  Perhaps there is something really profound about the other faction, the willing "old school" participants, embodied by Jack Nicholson, who learns about life and enjoyment from Wyatt and Billy.  Perhaps this whole thing is one big allegory.

Perhaps these guys just filmed a bunch of shit, with no real plan, and took a lot of drugs.

I'm going, for the most part, with that.

Look, I don't mean to sound too harsh about this film.  It's a remarkable achievement.  It's gorgeous to watch through most of it.  It presents symbols more than anything else.  It highlights a segment of society that is lost, and seeking answers, where none are likely to emerge.  Watch the commune scene.  Notice the sadness/anger on the faces of those there.  They wanted a better life, they wanted to find answers to life, and why they were there.  Ultimately, they just look like whatever they've done has been a tremendous waste of energy.  It looks as if their faith has been broken, and it looks as if they will soon be broken apart as well.  We see similar things almost everywhere we go.  The diner scene, where the hippies are relentlessly taunted by the scared citizenry of the area in another example.  Their faith has been broken, too, and rather than find any way to accept/manipulate it, they decide that the easy solution is just to beat senseless those who rock that faith.

Finally, with all this pain, all this shit that these guys experience on what should be the most liberating trip of their lifetime, they come to the goal:  Mardi Gras in New Orleans.  Look at the faces.  They look tired.  They look aged.  They look confused.  They look lost.  So, in that state, they decide that perhaps the thing to do is to...drop acid.  Now, I've dropped a tab or two dozen in my days.  There is NOTHING good that comes from tapping into one's REM state while conscious when so much is weighing upon one's head.  I give the film credit for making the acid trip a painful, scary experience.  It's spot on, and while it is without any sort of realistic visual imagery, it makes the point about what goes on in one's head quite nicely.  My question, of course, is why do I care, still, about any of this?

I'm not sure.  And maybe that's the point.

The music in the film is amazing.  A little ham-handed at times, but Steppenwolf's "The Pusher," with its punishing melody, feels right at home, and the joy of "The Weight" by the Band melds with the amazing scenery that it is punctuating.  Rock and roll really served this film well.

Finally, as I feel there isn't that much more for me to say about this, I have to talk about the ending.

If you haven't seen the film, I'm not going to spoil the end.  The first time I saw this film, I had taken acid, and was watching it at the University of Iowa Memorial Union.  A group of us cheered, laughed, and generally enjoyed ourselves while watching Wyatt and Billy's exploits.  We laughed at the sheer goofiness of Jack Nicholson as George Hanson, and we oohed and ahhed at the scenery.  We also looked deep into ourselves as the discussions in the film got "heavy."  Then, after the big bad trip was over, we felt relieved.  These guys had been through a lot of self-inflicted agony, and life was about to shift for them.

Then came the gutpunch of the ending.  I remember sitting there dumbstruck and shocked by what had just happened, and how quickly the film ended after the action had completed.  I remember feeling wholly incomplete, and sad.  I remember thinking that nothing really good had happened to anyone I was supposed to care about, and that it felt decidedly unsettling.  If you watch this film for nothing else, I would recommend watching it for the buildup and payoff of the ending.  That, in spite of the fact that you might not care about these guys, is one hell of a way to end a film.

Oh yeah.  Jack Nicholson steals the film.  Just flat out comes in, kicks the film's ass, takes its wallet, then rolls it into the gutter.  He's phenomenal, and you can see the beginnings of the personality that was about to overtake the actor.

Short one this time.  I can't say too much more about my feelings on this film, and would prefer that you just watch it for yourself.  I see why it has a place on the list, and I'm glad I've seen it as many times as I have.  Perhaps you could watch it one (more?) time.

Ebert's take here.  I had included the photo he talks about with Captain America discarding his watch.  I forgot to comment on it.  Roger's comments on this are way better than mine.

EDIT:  I just read last year's review.  Heh.  This is why I'm doing this all at once, because my opinion can change.  No, I'm not doing it every year, but there are most assuredly things that change in the course of a spin around the sun.