Easy Rider (1969)

As you probably know, there's some gaping holes in my cinematic viewing history that I'm trying to rectify, and this was one of them; Dennis Hopper's iconic road movie, written by himself and Peter Fonda, his co star in the film. They play Billy and Wyatt respectively, and we're introduced to them completing a drug deal in the opening scenes; taking the proceeds from the exchange, and embarking on a journey cross country in search of spiritual redemption. Filmed at the height of the hippie movement, Easy Rider is an important contextual document of the era just over fifty years on; there's very little to talk about plot wise, it's more a series of sequences to give you an idea of the time. But that sounds like I'm doing the film a disservice. Giving you the two main characters to follow adds heart and interest to proceedings, and the characters they meet along the way are fascinating, especially a hilarious cameo from Jack Nicholson. It covers the bigotry and hatred of the time as well; extra hard hitting when these points are in front of you as you're fully aware this sort of systemic hatred remains rife today. The expansive locations are wonderfully shot, sweeping shots of empty landscapes with the wall of an equally iconic soundtrack make you wish you could just follow them all day. Easy Rider is every bit the film I hoped it would be, and has just as much to say today as it presumably did in 1969. 8.4/10