Easy Rider (1969)

Freedom is a word often talked about but never practiced. The idealist biker hippies in Easy Rider are looking for romantic idea of freedom through the course of the film but never ultimately find it in 1960's America. The time is just not right for Wyatt and Billy, and they pay dearly for the transgression of individuality in such a repressive and violent part of the USA. Freedom for most people is an abstract concept. For Wyatt and Billy, the word seems tangible, with the help of drug use and riding cross country on a chopper. The film plays on the idea that you can't have it all, not because you really can't, but because there will always be someone trying to control or correct your actions. True freedom will never be possible in place so severely crippled by societal rules and regulations. Some things have changed since 1969, but the same types of violent, ignorant and repressive people still exist. I wonder if Wyatt and Billy would be able to make it to Florida in 2009?

The Wild One (1953)

The cultural signifigance of the people, clothing and ideas in the film is immeasurable. Marlon Brando as Johnny the modern hero, a tough guy with a good heart. The cycles, the jackets and that attitude. The jive talking gang of hooligans just trying to "have a ball" on everyone else's expense. These men are like the teenagers of my high school years, I know these guys. Children trapped in a grown man's body. Everyone can relate to the rebel, the duality of human nature and the need to leave it all behind, everyone and everything and just ride. Mary Murphy as Katie Bleeker the square with the same dreams as Johnny, shares much in common with him, only she hasn't the guts to let it all go. She isn't ready to roll the dice just yet. It's tragic but understandable, it's life. Some of us have to be the suit and the tie, others get to be the rebel. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. What a name. What a film.

The Graduate (1967)

The graduate is a film so telling of it's time, it is almost voyeuristic in it's look at the late 1960's. The fears, perversions and repression of the the time are clearly evident for all to see no matter how hard the characters attempt to ignore, hide or disguise them. Dustin Hoffman plays a man-child who cannot conform to social norms anymore. He rebels against the world by bedding a married woman, although the initial advances are thanks to the latter party, it is Hoffman's character Ben Braddock who follows through with the tryst by calling mrs. robinson - played by an astonishingly beautiful anne bancroft - from a hotel pay phone. At the core of the film, there is a deep sense of the social unrest. People were, at that time, soldered to societal positions. Any variation in the flow of things was extremely controversial. Ultimately the film is clear about making your own decisions, and being an individual even if it means having to experience unpleasant things to find out exactly what you need in life. It is shot beautifully with very interesting shot choices. There were multiple shots showing a reflective Dustin Hoffman, pondering life or even comparing his thought process to a caged animal (the fish tank in his bedroom / the monkeys at the zoo). Also used is a creative first person shot (i.e. the pool & scuba scene) or the infamous breast shots during the quick cutting of the first bedroom scene with Bancroft. The dialogue is crisp, even though it so eerily formal in so many informal situations (think Ben and Mr. Robinson's exchange in his Berkley apartment). I may tend towards nostalgia (even when I've never experienced certain things myself) but I find the consistent formality of the dialogue to be endearing. I wish we still lived in a world where a certain level of respect was required for all interactions. Even though the film seemed rushed at the end, it was overall immensely enjoyable due to it's ability to give a glimpse of the mindset of the time and to expose the dark underworld of suburbia in the 1960's.