Easy Rider
It can be best often said that the ability of a simple movie to sum up an entire decade, or rather, an entire era within the confines of its running time can be considered the greatest of all cinematic achievements, and director Dennis Hopper certainly accomplished that with his 1969 Grand Masterpiece, a film whose technique on the surface is deceptively simple but yet speaks volumes during both the duration and aftermath. Hopper and Peter Fonda play two LA-based drug dealers whom, after selling their âretirement scoreâ to a local connection (future convicted murderer Phil Spector), take off on their chopper motorcycles ostensibly heading towards Mardi Gras in New Orleans, but really to be on a quest across America to see if it is truly the greatest country in the world, only to learn that in many ways that is just a facade. Things start well when they meet an amicable rancher and pick up a hippie hitchhiker whom they give a lift to his commune, and the first signs of trouble occur there, when Hopper (sporting long hair and a cowboy outfit but really at heart an unpretentious goofball) starts getting picked on by the other hippies seemingly for the unforgivable crime of making a pass at every pretty girl that resides there. Things get worse as they travel further into the Deep South, and the discoveries and revelations they experience no doubt will stay with most viewers for a lifetime. Among the highlights of the film include a star-making performance by Jack Nicholson (in the role that garnered him his first Oscar nomination) as the ACLU lawyer who decides to come along with them on the trip, not to mention the amazing soundtrack (one of the first to use pre-existing songs) featuring artists as diverse as The Byrds, The Band, Hendrix, Dylan, and of course Steppenwolfâs immortal anthem âBorn To Be Wildâ to help document their trip cross country. The lessons learned as they delve further into the heart of Dixie (and sadly has spread across most of the country since then, no matter what political persuasion one may be) is how there are people in this world ready, willing, and able to maim and kill those whom they consider âdifferentâ, and Hopper and Fonda (who are not so much liberal hippies as they are non-conformist libertarians) find themselves easy targets for the rednecks and good ol boy law enforcement types who donât take very kindly to strangers passing through their small towns. Even more interesting is my own personal evolution Iâve encountered over the many years and many times watching this film, whereas I used to identify closer with Hopperâs Billy for being a nutty abrasive, anything goes type individual, now I feel more of a connection to Fondaâs Captain America, more of a quiet, soft-spoken type who actually takes the time to observe the beauty around him when it shows itself. Indeed, as America has descended from being the type of country where everybody helps everybody out to being more like a place where everyone has a more mercenary attitude and is seemingly out for themselves, this remains a movie that not only saw this change coming but continues to stand today as an ongoing commentary on where this country is heading if the true change and embracing of freedom is continued to be pushed aside, and that fact alone puts Hopper (who only directed a relative handful of other films for the remainder of his lifetime) among the truly elite artists of his chosen profession, and will be so for the hundreds of years and generations yet to come that this movie will endure forâŚ
10/10