Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: Hair (1979) - Reflect on 1960s youth counter-culture with Forman's infectious musical

3/17/2022

Hair (1979) - Reflect on 1960s youth counter-culture with Forman's infectious musical

♥♥♥

Bright colors and youthful energy bounces from this poster for Milos Forman's Hair

A young man from Oklahoma arrives in New York and is immediately enchanted by a long-haired hippie group of youths in Central Park. He falls in love with a young fallen-from-grace debutante, but he is drafted for the military and subsequent service in the war in Vietnam.

Hair is written by Michael Weller (Lost Angels (1989)), adapting the successful 1967 Broadway musical by Gerome Ragni and James Rado, and directed by Czech-born American master filmmaker Milos Forman (Black Peter/Cerný Petr (1964)), whose 6th film it was.

The essence of Hair is in many ways incomprehensibly stupid: It appears to believe fully and wholly in favor of its young heroes' carefree approach to life, which allows robbery, deserting one's children, permanent laziness, disintegration of families and taking lots of drugs. Many of the songs are on some level dumb, - but also ridiculous and comical, the hair and clothes contributing greatly to this quality. The many uses of the n-word also grinds in one's ears today.

The ending, - changed from the stage musical, - is smart, SPOILER as Treat Williams' (What Happens in Vegas (2008)) hippie leader character Berger meets the gravity of life, when he, due to a case of a draft-dodging plan misfiring and mistaken identity, is sent away to fight in Vietnam.

Hair has undeniably catchy songs, - the funny White Boys/Black Boys number is worth highlighting, and the excellent rendition of Flesh Failures (Let the Sunshine In), arguably the film's climax. Despite its criticizable outlook, the film is entertaining and very valuable as a historical document that brings insight about the strife and youth revolts of the 1960s and 70s. There's also a unique energy and radiance in Hair, which simply has to be seen to be understood.

Related posts:

Milos Forman: 2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

Goya's Ghosts (2006) - Forman's under-appreciated last major picture

Top 10: The best biopic movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Top 10: The best big hit movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Amadeus (1984) or, The Fool Genius and his Teacher

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) - Forman's 1970s gold-rimmed classic

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 11 mil. $

Box office: 38 mil. $

= Box office success (returned 3.45 times its cost)

[Hair premiered 14 March (California, New York) and runs 121 minutes. Shooting took place in October 1977 in Washington, D.C., New York and California. The film made 15.3 mil. $ (40.3 % of the total gross) in North America. It was nominated for a César award, 2 Golden Globes and won 2 David di Donatello awards, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 4/4 star review, translating to 3 notches over this one. Ragni and Rado publicly bashed the film. Forman returned with Ragtime (1981). John Savage (Beverly Hills Christmas (2015)) returned in The Onion Field (1979); Williams in 1941 (1979); and Beverly D'Angelo (Accidental Love (2015)) in Coal Miner's Daughter (1980). Hair is certified fresh at 82 % with a 7.80/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Hair?

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William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

William Hurt has passed away

Born in Washington D.C., Hurt's first film role was the lead in Altered States (1980). Later credits include Body Heat (1981), The Big Chill (1983), Gorky Park (1983), Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), for which he earned his only Oscar as Best Actor; Chilrdren of a Lesser God (1986), for which he was also Oscar-nominated; Broadcast News (1987), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; Smoke (1995), A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), A History of Violence (2005), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; The Good Shepherd (2006), Into the Wild (2007), Robin Hood (2010) and many more. Hurt passed away at age 71. R.I.P.

Ivan Reitman has passed away

Born in Chechoslovakia, now Slovakia, Reitman's family fled the Soviet regime to Austria, then Toronto, when he was 4 years old. Reitman broke into movies as a director with Foxy Lady (1971). Later credits include Cannibal Girls (1973), Meatballs (1979), Stripes (1981), Ghostbusters (1984), Twins (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Kindergarten Cop (1990), Junior (1994), Father's Day (1997), Evolution (1998), No Strings Attached (2011), Draft Day (2014) and more. Reitman's son Jason Reitman is also a great filmmaker. Reitman passed away at age 75. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

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3/17/2022

Hair (1979) - Reflect on 1960s youth counter-culture with Forman's infectious musical

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