A young driver and his mechanic in a souped-up 1955 Chevrolet, living off drag racing bets in the south west, establish a tentative relationship with a girl who tags on to them. They become involved in an indeterminate cross-country race with the middle-aged driver of a new Pontiac GTO. Like other Hellman films, Two-lane Blacktop is a genre film in which the popular elements are not exploited to satisfy audience expectations but are subverted into fresh patterns. This makes it the most determinedly original of the post-Easy Rider road movies, an existential parable which makes striking use of widescreen compositions, long takes and elliptical cuts while denying narrative tension. Instead there is the resonance of character and situation. Hellman has described the film as ‘a love story (about) … how much romance is left in a non-romantic world’, but this is implicit. Cast includes: James Taylor, Warren Oates, Laurie Bird, Dennis Wilson. Also available on VHS.
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In ACMI's collection
Credits
Collection metadata
ACMI Identifier
318317
Languages
English
English
Subject categories
Advertising, Film, Journalism, Mass Media & TV → Motion picture trailers
Sound/audio
Sound
Colour
Colour
Holdings
DVD; Access Print (Section 1)