Review LXXXVIII - Easy Rider

Review LXXXVIII
Easy Rider (1969)

I haven't reviewed a film in so long, but I swear, it's because I've been awfully busy with exams. This review will be short, but hopefully it will get me back on track. I would also really like to watch some horror films for Halloween, but we'll see how that goes. Anyway, I've been meaning to watch Dennis Hopper's Easy Rider for a long time given its status and fame. Then my boyfriend found out Jack Nicholson was in the film, and, well, Peter Fonda go back after a misunderstanding with the film Duel and Dennis Weaver (don't ask), so finally we decided on watching this film. But let's actually talk about the movie, right?

The film begins with two men on motorcycles smuggling cocaine from Mexico to Los Angeles, and thus acquiring a huge sum of cash. Our protagonists are Wyatt (Peter Fonda), who is nicknamed Captain America, and Billy (Dennis Hopper). After getting so much money, the two head on a journey to New Orleans to celebrate Mardi Gras, a celebration prior to Ash Wednesday, where you indulge in fatty, rich foods before the fast begins. But the journey proves more despondent than the two ever imagined.

Easy Rider is a counterculture film and apparently spawned the "New Hollywood", influenced by French New Wave. You can definitely see a connection with the jarring cuts between scenes at times. But I wouldn't go ahead and say it's as jarring as À bout de souffle. Anyway, as I was saying, the movie is a counterculture movie with lots of drug use... As I established in my review of Kids, I was never into drinking heavily or experimenting with drugs in my high school days, and I'm still not into it. Thus, on the surface, I was already not relating to the film. But the more underlying message of a destroyed American dream, I could get more, even though I am not American. The religious symbolism throughout the film is what made me stay, and you really get a bitter end. The film is more than just a reminiscence of rejecting your culture - it really is showing how the government, how the people, have let us down. I mean, I won't go around and say it's a favourite of mine - personally, I thought the film was just okay - but it was still trying something new for the time, and the shots aiming to show a sort of hallucinogenic feel was pretty cool, especially nearing the end. It was genuine and totally sixties, man. But again, while the content was meaningful, I can't say it was anything spectacular. Not to say you shouldn't give it a shot - maybe I just wasn't in the right frame of mind - but again, nothing spectacular. Plus, Jack Nicholson is not even there that long!

While it definitely helped to establish a different style in Hollywood with a dark message, Easy Rider was not as great as I thought it would be. Nonetheless, give it a try. It's still an interesting watch, even if I wasn't super hyped watching it.

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