Films like “Easy Rider“, “Bonnie and Clyde” and “The Graduate” paved the way for the New Hollywood Cinema, which would shape the Cinema as we know it today. New filmmakers arose and spoke about topics that were hardly discussed prior to them in the Classic Hollywood Era. In today’s article, we will review “Easy Rider” and examine its impact on the counterculture of that time (and not only).
“Easy Rider” is directed by Dennis Hopper, who co-wrote the script with Peter Fonda and Terry Southern. Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda are also the main protagonists, along with Jack Nicholson. Two bikers drive from L.A to New Orleans, in order to attend the Mardi Gras festival. Through their trip to the vast American countryside, they will come along many different people and will learn about the hippies and the counterculture movement.
“Easy Rider” was a vast success. With a budget under 400000 dollars, it managed to earn over 60 million dollars worldwide. Critics and audience praised the authenticity of the film. Moreover, Dennis Hopper won the prize for “Best First Work” at Cannes Film Festival in 1969. Finally in 1998, the United States National Film Registry selected this film for preservation, as being “culturally, historically and aesthetically significant“.
To begin with, “Easy Rider” managed to encapture the spirit of its time. The hippie movement was on the rise and the Beat Generation was inspiring teenagers and young adults along the US. Furthermore, bikers around the country were breaking the boundaries, by travelling around and not having a stable house and work. After all, that was the American dream that thrived during the 1950’s. On the contrary to that American Dream, “Easy Rider” offered to the wide audience a communal lifestyle, where everyone is free of obligations, drug use is something usual and people share their goods.
In addition to these, “Easy Rider” is a “product” of the “French New Wave”. Shot in location, with some amateur actors and a social commentary, which is present throughout the film. We become witnesses of the great American landscapes and discover a country which we would see only on westerns. According to Hopper and Fonda, they actually wanted to make a modern western, with bikes instead of horses. Only in their case, there are not “bad Indians”. The government is to blame for how the world has become. The solution is not on doing wars, but on doing peace with each other and come closer to the nature.
Having said all the above, it is crucial to mention that “Easy Rider” broke the stereotypes for many groups that were marginalized till then. The biker movement gained a huge popularity. Harley Davidson motorbikes became the vehicle of an alternative American Dream. However, they needed a soundtrack for that. “Born to Be Wild” by Steppenwolf was the one which inspired a whole generation (and not only).
