What we offer you today is the rare script by fonda, hopper and southern that gained almost a mythological value over the years, unearthed from a book that has been outofprint for decades. Easy rider essays easy rider characterizes the spirit of the sixties by involving freedom, dreams, and struggle. The 60s in retrospect a magical history tour dozent. Enter your location to see which movie theaters are playing easy rider near you. It did a lot of repeat business while the sweet smell of pot drifted through theaters. It doesnt water down the conflicts and contradictions inherent in the hippie movement. At the time easy rider was made, it was revolutionary a personal film less interested in plot and subplots than images, individual moments, music, and a mostly new way of looking at 1969 america. Given easy riders sledgehammer impact on pop culture, its tempting to treat it as a fluke, a curiosity, and a time capsule, a film that became a surprise hit because it showed young viewers a life they knew quite well but that hadnt yet been accurately captured on film. Jack nicholsons performance launched a career that would be going strong nearly half a century later. Seeing the movie years later is like opening a time capsule.
That the picture has stood the test of time and is still lovingly looked upon by viewers thirty years later, however, suggests that it is a celluloid version of the. Aside from being a solid picture in and of itself, this is a film that is important for historical and artistic reasons and like the godfather it is an essential piece of american film. Easy rider, says corman, was a culmination of a trend that started in the late 50s in which independent pictures proliferated and became increasingly successful at. Film analysis easy rider focus on american dream, hippie. Netting a hefty profit from their latest drug deal, hippies wyatt and billy decide to outfit themselves with among other things motorbikes wyatt complete in what they call his. The first scene in the film involves the two main characters selling a good amount of cocaine to a man in rolls royce. The downanddirty directorial debut of former cleancut teen star dennis hopper, easy rider heralded the arrival of a new voice in film, one pitched angrily against the mainstream. Easy rider is a film america of the late sixties needed. Like many others these two friends set out on a trip to. The songs that make up the soundtrack were carefully selected to form a musical commentary. He enthusiastically declared that americans had exited the easygoing easy rider era and entered a tougher dirty harry era. Peter fonda plays wyatt a 20something purpose seeker along with his best friend billy dennis hopper, a true californian hippy.
It helped spark the new hollywood of the late 1960s and early 70s, in which a style of filmmaking based on low budgets and avantgarde directors arose that differed greatly from. Fonda and hopper played two bikers who travel through the american southwest and south, carrying the proceeds from a cocaine deal. Easy rider is enjoyable as a moment frozen in time. Easy rider showed for the first time ever that an independent film could make money. Bush stated we the reagan administration have turned around the permissive philosophy of the 1970s, which. Easy rider is the soundtrack to the cult classic 1969 film easy rider.
Released in the year of the woodstock concert, and made in a year of two tragic assassinations robert kennedy and martin luther king, the vietnam war buildup and nixons election, the tone of this. This film is unusual because the stars of the film, dennis hopper and peter fonda, are also the director and producer. Easy rider, the film equivalent of jack kerouacs rambunctious on the road novel, legitimatized new subject matter, including casual drugs and sex, and the questioning of the american system. Visual analysis edward hopper nighthawks essay pages. Easy rider formalistic editing and meaning essaysdennis hopper injects many different cinematic styles. No matter what hindsight casts upon it, or how it is appropriated and. Im not a fan of the film, either, but i wouldnt say its a bad film at all. Shame on the vandals, not the object of their vandalism.
The story, of filmmakers fondahopper creation, centers around the selfstyled, countercultured, neo. They do a great job performing these duel roles, especially considering the they were stoned during the entire production of the. Hidden messages in easy rider 1242 words 123 help me. Dennis hopper interview easy riderthe last movie merv griffin show 1971 duration. How else are we to approach a movie that advertises itself. Read the full synopsis of easy rider, 1969, directed by dennis hopper, with peter fonda, dennis hopper, antonio mendoza, at turner classic movies. The very feeble and fragile looking machines they ride the american dream symbolize the war machine. During the 1988 presidential campaign, candidate george bush used the film easy rider as an analogy for a passing era of laxness. In all the exploitationtype motorcycle movies, the central characters were outlaws from conventional society. I think the ad indicts our own, therein making the film more appealing and vital. The music score is brilliant and it gives you a sense of the atmosphere in the world at the time it was made, a film like this can never be made again.
A nation divided in the midst of the counterculture movement that was sparked by a generational split and fueled by the vietnam war, america was struggling for change. Easy rider your name name of of professor easy rider easy rider, released in 1969, was one of the most important antiestablishment movies to have come out during the. This movie is about the capitalist ethic in america, analogous to capitalism being some sort of delusional, spacedout road trip high. Easy rider is a classic film, it has to be everyones film collection. Film analysis of the film easy rider 811 words bartleby. Also sign me up for fanmail to get updates on all things movies. Analysis of the film easy rider directed by dennis hopper. Both a detailed synopsis and a film analysis easy rider. Easy rider was an independently produced film, the first to herald the independent industrys growth and potential. Behind the motorcycles in easy rider, a longobscured story the alleged last authentic motorcycle used in the 1969 film easy rider is going up for auction. Edgy and seminal, easy rider encapsulates the dreams, hopes, and hopelessness of 1960s counterculture.
An epic journey into the unknown for the american dream easy rider is the late 1960s road film tale of a search for freedom or the illusion of freedom and an identity in america, in the midst of paranoia, bigotry and violence. The success of easy rider helped spark the new hollywood era of filmmaking during the early 1970s. Dennis hopper the movie easy rider begins with the two main characters wyatt, played by peter fonda, and billy the kid, played by dennis hopper, in mexico buying drugs that they later intend on selling within the united states borders. What are the hidden messages in easy rider there are many symbols of freedom and individuality in dennis hoppers movie easy rider. After the films crosscountry journeywith its radical, new wavestyle editing, outsiderrock soundtrack, revelatory performance by a young jack. Released in the year of the woodstock concert, and made in a year of two tragic assassinations robert kennedy and martin luther king, the vietnam war buildup and nixons election, the. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Or a not so enigmatic title for an amazing though surprising movie. Shotbyshot scene analysis, easy rider the 1969 film easy rider, is one of my favorite films. Easy rider, which opened yesterday at the beekman, is a motorcycle drama with decidedly superior airs about it. Easy rider, american countercultural film, released in 1969, that was hailed as a youth anthem for its message of nonconformism and its reflection of social tensions in the united states in the late 1960s. Film analysis easy rider focus on american dream, hippie life style and soundtrack universitat augsburg philologischhistorische fakultat lehrstuhl fur amerikanistik ps.
It became one of the rallyingpoints of the late 60s, a road picture and a buddy picture, celebrating sex, drugs, rock n roll, and the freedom of the open road. The success of easy rider caused massive changes in hollywood i would say it was an extremely important film for its time, whether or not you like it. Easy rider 1969 cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. Film analysis of the film easy rider 811 words 4 pages easy rider analysis america in the 1960s was a time of turbulence and chaos. Easy rider 1969 is the late 1960s road film tale of a search for freedom or the illusion of freedom in a conformist and corrupt america, in the midst of paranoia, bigotry and violence. A to new orleans, and along the way, meet a man who bridges a counterculture gap they are unaware of. Analysis of dennis hoppers easy rider essay 1141 words 5 pages. Whether easy rider embodies a mythic representation of the way americans viewed themselves is up to those who lived through the 1960s to consider, rather than someone born in 1981. Indeed, the film, released in 1969 deals quite logically with two motorcycles riders respectively named wyatt peter fonda and billy dennis hopper. At the time, dennis hoppers film received a farreaching reaction from fans and critics alike.
And someday it was inevitable that a great film would come along, utilizing the motorcycle genre, the same way the great westerns suddenly made everyone realize they were a legitimate american art form, easy rider is the picture. Easy rider was not the first biker film but it remains among the best. Easy rider is a 1969 american independent road drama film written by peter fonda, dennis hopper, and terry southern, produced by fonda, and directed by hopper. Through the open country and desert lands, two bikers head from l. This film is just one example of the mediums capacity to hold a mirror up to society through artistic expression. Why easy rider couldnt have a happy ending screenprism. American aggression and expansion having to turn back and not getting farther than the western shore, namely the vietnam era 1960s was a loss.
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