The summer of '69
The Last Movie
Gary Simmons explores the transformation that was the 'New Hollywood' this Thursday.
1969 was defined by a series of political and social events that altered the way people thought and acted, moulding their perspectives, their priorities and the way they lived for good.
A pivotal year in recent history, 1969 saw the hippie movement (at its zenith), Woodstock, the Stonewall riots, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, The Doors, the moon landing, lingering grief over the assassinations of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr., and the violence of Vietnam. As a result of these events and new attitudes, artistic outputs such as film, art and music underwent a complete transformation and a new artistic order emerged.
In this live event, Gary Simmons will discuss the zeitgeist and how it led to and was captured in one of the most important films of the time, Easy Rider.
Easy Rider's director, co-writer and actor, Dennis Hopper, having lived through this time of radical political and social change, became an instigator. Frustrated by the films being made and the producers behind them, Hopper set out to make his own film, radically different in content and style.
Independently funded, Easy Rider was made for US$340,000 yet it grossed an astonishing US$19 million at the box office, making it the highest-grossing independent film of all time. Considering this was at a time when it cost less than one US dollar to go to the movies, it's even more astounding. (By the way, Easy Rider is essential viewing and the restored print will screen at ACMI from Boxing Day to 10 January. More info here.)
Easy Rider remains a definitive document of the counterculture movement and some 40 years later it is officially recognised by the US government for its cultural and historical significance - it is one of the key films that led to the birth of the 'New Hollywood'. This watershed moment also heralded a new wave of Hollywood directors, including Francis Ford Coppola, Robert Altman and Martin Scorsese, who radically changed the way films were made.
As a companion to the Dennis Hopper and the New Hollywood exhibition or an experience on its own, this live event promises to be suitable for everyone from the film-history buff to the uninitiated.
'New Hollywood Cinema and Easy Rider' hosted by Gary Simmons is on Thursday 10 December at 6.30pm in Studio 1 and is a free event. For more info, click here.
Published Thursday, 3 December 2009
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