Easy rider was the surprise boxoffice hit of the summer of 1969, a lowbudget film about a couple of hippies who use their profits from a drug deal to drive their motorcycles across the southwest and attend new orleans mardi gras celebrations, encountering adventures and tragedy along the way. Visual analysis edward hopper nighthawks essay pages. Im not a fan of the film, either, but i wouldnt say its a bad film at all. American aggression and expansion having to turn back and not getting farther than the western shore, namely the vietnam era 1960s was a loss. Posted on september 26, 2019 september 26, 2019 by jl admin. Seeing the movie years later is like opening a time capsule. Those words echoed across that entire generation of young people in the late 1960s, who brought this country to the verge of real change, but they were young. 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. Also sign me up for fanmail to get updates on all things movies. Easy rider a invokes both affirmative and critical visions of 1960s america, making it more of a measure of its times than either i. While wyatt is more easy going, believing in the karmic nature and practicality of helping others when they can and in turn asking for help when they need it, billy is a little more suspicious of the people they encounter, especially in hiding their wad of cash that is stuffed into the gas tank of wyatts bike, that money their future.
On july 14, 1969, columbia brought peter fondas easy rider to the big screen at the beekman in new york. Fonda and hopper played two bikers who travel through the american southwest and south, carrying the proceeds from a cocaine deal. Films like duel in the sun, and red river are what preceded films like easy rider. After the films crosscountry journeywith its radical, new wavestyle editing, outsiderrock soundtrack, revelatory performance by a young jack nicholson. Easy rider celebrates the counterculture only to condemn it at the end. To begin with, we will first look at the aspects of the road movie either present or disobeyed in the film. Jack nicholsons performance launched a career that would be going strong nearly half a. A 1969 film directed and cowritten by dennis hopper, easy rider starred hopper, cowriter and producer peter fonda and jack nicholson in his first oscarnominated role.
It takes the aimless rebellion of the bike gangs and channels it into specific rejection of the establishment by which is meant everything from rednecks to the pentagon to hippies on communes. Easy rider was an independently produced film, the first to herald the independent industrys growth and potential. How else are we to approach a movie that advertises itself. Easy rider movie analysis film studies essay uk essays. Combining both plots of these quintessential corman flicks, easy rider promised to be bmovie gold. Like many others these two friends set out on a trip to.
Easy rider was a little road movie that came out of nowhere to change hollywood forever. The very feeble and fragile looking machines they ride the american dream symbolize the war machine. At the time, dennis hoppers film received a farreaching reaction from fans and critics alike. Easy rider showed for the first time ever that an independent film could make money.
Albert brookss 1985 yuppie satire lost in america, a movie filled with easy rider references about a couple who attempt to jettison their cushy suburban life only to panic over losing their nest egg, astutely points out that the coke money hidden in wyatts red, white, and blue gas tank is a nest egg of a different kind. Henry fonda is said to have come out of easy rider a confused and puzzled man. 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. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Wyatt peter fonda and billy dennis hopper, two harleyriding hippies, complete a drug deal in southern california and decide to travel crosscountry in search of spiritual truth. 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 the box office. 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. Easy rider directed by dennis hopper is a typical road movie. Analysis of the film easy rider directed by dennis hopper. Road movies analysis the american road movie easy rider was a revolution, making its mark in the american society. It is imperative to this analysis that the conventions of cinema which easy rider defies be clearly established.
Film analysis easy rider focus on american dream, hippie. 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. Easy rider is a 1969 american independent road drama film written by peter fonda, dennis. Enter your location to see which movie theaters are playing easy rider near you. Easy rider takes the gang leader fonda and condenses his gang into one uptight archetype played by director hopper. Easy rider, which opened yesterday at the beekman, is a motorcycle drama with decidedly superior airs about it. Easy rider is one of the defacto new hollywood films. 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. 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. Through close textual analysis identify and discuss the ways in which the affirmative and critical visions of 1960s america are represented. Hidden messages in easy rider 1242 words 123 help me. Film analysis easy rider focus on american dream, hippie life style and soundtrack universitat augsburg philologischhistorische fakultat lehrstuhl fur amerikanistik ps. Never got round to seeing easy rider in the early days so thought i had better take a look now expected a rough and tough biker movie.
In the late 1960s, two motorcyclists dennis hopper and peter fonda transport drugs across multiple states and in the process come across the cultural rifts in the american south at this time. Read the full synopsis of easy rider, 1969, directed by dennis hopper, with peter fonda, dennis hopper, antonio mendoza, at turner classic movies. Lacked any real story and making a cup of horlicks at the end was more exiting. This movie is about the capitalist ethic in america, analogous to capitalism being some sort of delusional, spacedout road trip high. Why easy rider couldnt have a happy ending screenprism.
Easy rider essays easy rider characterizes the spirit of the sixties by involving freedom, dreams, and struggle. Made by the guys that gave you head it follows the tale of two dopedealing bikers, wyatt aka captain america fonda and billy hopper, who. The picture established filmmaking styles and attitudes that came to define the. 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. Although throughout the movie it has been shown how society dislikes and avoids hippies like wyatt and billy, the end seemed unusual. To begin, lets look at the aspects of the road movie either present or. The two bikers hit the road on a quest to find escapism and freedom in america. Cinematography in easy rider essay example for students.
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. A copy that has been read, but remains in clean condition. In the center of the picture there are two young and free bikers on the open road wyatt played by peter fonda and billy played by dennis hopper. The movie by dawn pisturino any analysis of dennis hoppers 1969 movie, easy rider, must be made within the context of the 1960s, or the analysis may become distorted. It did a lot of repeat business while the sweet smell of pot drifted through theaters. The first scene in the movie involves the two protagonists selling a large amount of cocaine to a gentleman in a rolls royce. Jack nicholsons performance launched a career that would be going strong nearly half a century later. These films came into being and were financially successful.
He had worked in movies for 35 years and made some great ones, and now his son peter was going to be a millionaire because of a movie henry couldnt even understand. The alleged last authentic motorcycle used in the 1969 film easy rider is going up for auction. Easy rider was a significant film because its success helped start a new hollywood phase of filmmaking in the early 1970s. He had worked in movies for 35 years and made some great ones, and now. 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. A to new orleans, and along the way, meet a man who bridges a counterculture gap they are unaware of. With peter fonda, dennis hopper, jack nicholson, antonio mendoza. 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. It helped spark the new hollywood of the late 1960s and early 70s, in which a style of.
It became one of the rallying points of the late 60s, a road picture and a buddy picture. The first scene in the film involves the two main characters selling a good amount of cocaine to a man in rolls royce. 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. 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. When peter fondas character, wyatt, says, we blew it. Released in the year of the woodstock concert, and made in a year of two tragic assassinations robert. Pages can include limited notes and highlighting, and the copy can include previous owner inscriptions. 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 studentshare our website is a unique platform where students can share their papers in a matter of giving an example of the work to be done. This is a movie about the counter culture made by participants of the counter culture which makes easy rider unique. The 1960s were a turbulent and unique period in american history this writer was fourteen years old in 1969. It does the best job of any film ive ever seen at summing up the hippy state of mind and the hippy experience. 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 man who designed the bikes, clifford vaughs, says.
Through the open country and desert lands, two bikers head from l. The 60s in retrospect a magical history tour dozent. Wasnt the shooting of both riders by some random truck drivers, a bit of a stretch. 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 alternative film is remarkably downbeat and bleak, reflecting the collapse of the idealistic 60s. 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. Easy rider music from the soundtrack various artists. Since its release, its been identified as the sixties counterculture film. 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 the. Easy rider plot characters names refer to wyatt earp and billy the kid the former is appreciative of help and of others, while the latter is often hostile and leery of outsiders.