Easy Rider, written by Dennis Hopper, Peter Fonda and directed by the former - 9 out of 10

Easy Rider, written by Dennis Hopper, Peter Fonda and directed by the former 
9 out of 10


Easy Rider is a classic now and it has opened the door for independent, road movies, after its tremendous critical and financial success.

Made for a paltry seven hundred thousand dollars or thereabouts, it made more than forty million at the box office and given that Jack Nicholson had been given a percentage,  he could buy a mansion in the hills near his inspiration, Marlon Brando.
This historic feature has been nominated for many important awards, including the Palme d'Or and two Oscars.

It is a fantastic movie about freedom and bigotry, hippy lifestyle and rednecks, liberated individuals and murderous Pithecanthrops, all set against the background of a spectacular, resplendent, stunning American scenery, where mountains are replaced by deserts and rivers flow through majestic planes.
This all could take place today,  in a country that seemed to be heading for an ever more solid democratic model, only to stumble and fall so ludicrously by electing a buffoon for the highest office of the land, made grotesque by a demented fool, suffering from Narcissistic Personality Disorder among others.

In the opening scenes of Easy Rider, Wyatt aka Peter Fonda and Billy aka Dennis Hopper meet with some Mexican dealers, they buy some drugs and then sell them on for a major profit.
They put the money in a plastic tube that they insert in the gas tank of their impressive motorcycles and set off for New Orleans and the Mardi Gras festivities.

On this long journey, they take a hitchhiker with a peculiar attitude, who would not say where he comes from when asked, limiting himself to stating that it was a city and they are all pretty much alike.
He also invites Billy to be more respectful, because where he stands and enjoys himself- they are most of the time high - the ancestors of the few remaining natives have their burial grounds.

Easy Rider is also about marijuana and drugs, which provide the funds for the journey and most importantly, the mindsets of the protagonists.
Not just fictionally it seems, for Peter Fonda states in an interview that he gave Jack Nicholson some strong stuff and he was under the influence in the famous scene near the camp fire.

Indeed, the career of the one who would become the best in the world, with our local hero, George Constantin, would skyrocket after Easy Rider, for which he was nominated for the Oscar, Golden Globe, BAFTA and other trophies.
The stranger from the highway takes the two Easy Riders to a hippy community, where a multitude of men, women and children live in common, away from the benefits - or is it the plague - of civilization.

The two traveling men spend some time in this modern day commune, falanster or kibbutz and they get intimate with two of the women there...'make love, not war'
However, the highlight of the movie is the encounter in jail, where the Easy Riders are brought by what today would be fanatic Trump supporters, for taking part in a parade without a permit, because they just happened to be traveling along, of George Hanson aka the mesmerizing Jack Nicholson.

Robert Evans claims in his book, The Kid Stays in the Picture, that he has discovered Jack Nicholson.
That notwithstanding, he steals the show.

The fantastic artist lights up the screen, but his consequent presence on it is rather short.
Easy Rider is also unique in the earnest, tragic manner that it ends the road movie, an outstanding accomplishment.