Monday 28 July 2008

Five Easy Pieces [1970]


Five Easy Pieces is in many ways a comparatively lesser hallowed and more sedate version of Easy Rider. Like the latter, this wonderful road movie strongly propounded the themes of moral detachment, spiritual emancipation and strong anti-establishmentarian sentiments. And along with Easy Rider, Chinatown and One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, it firmly established Jack Nicholson as the most distinctive spokeperson of a generation drenched in angst, urban alienation, disillusionment and rebelliousness. Directed by Bob Rafelson, Nicholson plays the role of Bobby Dupea, who is yet to find his place in the world and lives his life without any strings attached, as a proletariat, to flee from his suffocating bourgeois past, even though he was born in an affluent family and was a great musician in the making. The concoction of fast tracks, classical Western music and long moments of silence, coupled with the languid cinematography filled with realism, made this one of the finest movies of the turbulent Vietnam War era. And as for the brilliant Jack Nicholson, who provided a restrained and nuanced performance (in complete contrast to the volatile and dynamic roles he is generally associated with) as a loner and a reluctant intellectual at odds with the world around him and a quintessential archetype of Bob Dylan's iconic pronouncement “No Direction Home” – the less said about him is better lest I start speaking in clichés and hyperboles.









Director: Bob Rafelson
Genre: Drama/Road Movie/Psychological Drama//Existential Drama/Family Drama/Anti-Establishmentarian Movie
Language: English
Country: US

6 comments:

Aiden R. said...

Wow, great review. Need to go back and revisit Easy Rider and Chinatown IMMEDIATELY.

Shubhajit said...

Thanks a lot Aiden.

Websnacker said...

Nice post. here's a post revisiting the restaurant scene!

http://websnacker.blogspot.com/2010/10/five-easy-pieces-no-potatoes-tomatoes.html

Shubhajit said...

Thanks. Will surely take a look at your post on the classic scene.

Unknown said...

Shubhajit, I just found your great blog. Wonderful stuff! Five Easy Pieces is one of my favourite films. Many consider Dupea a bastard, but not me. I always thought of him as someone unwilling to compromise, for better or worse. If you're interested, check out my post on this great film at:
http://wp.me/p38pht-t7
Cheers. Ricardo.

Shubhajit said...

Thanks a lot Ricardo for liking liking my blog. Five Easy Pieces is one of my favourites too. Do keep visiting.