I am afraid that there will not be another country that can give birth to this kind of road film with the American label. This is the memory of the Beat generation alone, the human rights utopia of hippies, and the declaration of freedom of rebels. It's about drugs, it's about sex, it's about dreams. The seemingly decadent and depraved life is full of sincere thinking about nothingness and existence, the most realistic pursuit of freedom, and the deepest questioning of life. However, they finally discovered that this road never ends, so they closed the curtain and left. Get out of this muddled world, leave this insoluble mystery, and whip these hypocritical people who are afraid of freedom.
Speaking of American road movies, this 1969 film can be regarded as the originator-level character. It was it that opened the door to the development of new Hollywood, and since then allowed road movies to exist as a film genre. This film magically won a box office of 25 million US dollars and won 7 Oscar nominations with less than 400,000 US dollars of investment. . It has become an indispensable and absolute classic in the history of highway movies.
But why this movie about sex, drugs, rock and road can save the declining Hollywood market? Why has this once-popular film become a masterpiece that only niche audiences and so-called artistic youths can appreciate today?
First of all, in terms of the content of the film, this pure highway film contains almost all the elements of the prevailing life of the "Beat Generation" in society at that time. It can be said to be a panoramic representation of reality and philosophical thinking. Among them, the desperate pursuit of freedom, faith in the American dream, and openness to race and gender undoubtedly catered to the throbbing of young people who were "on the road" or "on the road" at that time. In the film, the charming and open scenery that changes as the two go on the road, the protagonist is introverted and melancholy, and has a simple and happy image, which gives it the potential of a commercial film. However, this film is obviously not a simple commercial film. Its profound thinking about that era and its condemnation of worldly despair made every viewer have to fall into deep contemplation.
Why go on the road? Because you want to escape, because you want to find. What to avoid, what to look for? Escape the numb life, escape the reality that seems to be free but obstructed everywhere, escape the hostile glance of the hypocritical "guardians"; find the true meaning of life, find the freedom of dreams, and find an equal and friendly utopia. Although it is a jacket and a Harley motorcycle that represent rebellion, the Stars and Stripes are flying on it. Every "decadent" young man actually carries an "American Dream". Rebelling against depravity by depravity, they are unwilling to the decline of the country, the lack of faith, and the death of heroes, so they want to achieve spiritual nirvana through physical "short-term therapy" such as drugs and sex. This kind of religious meditation about existence and nothingness is full of innocence that is incompatible with society. It is doomed to the tragic fate of every protagonist and the fateful sadness of that generation. So we followed them on the road innocently and happily, accompanied by the brisk western music, as if life were as beautiful and fresh as the wind, but was rejected by second-rate motels, sleeping in the wilderness, and seeing the infinite beauty of the sunset time and time again. The miserable and dilapidated scene of human beings; therefore, we join them in their pious prayers, thinking that faith can really turn sand into grain, that life can really be happy without restraint, and men and women can really be happy without stubbornness; so We followed them behind the parade and reveled in advocacy, but were unreasonably caught in prison; we can even understand that they use cannabis alcohol and psychedelic drugs to release their incomprehension of reality and save hope for life. However, we were shocked to see these harmless and kind people being killed in the name of morality by the so-called "righteous" "gentlemen" in life. This sudden death, whether it is an unprovoked gang fight in the wild at night, or a disapproving gun fire on a truck during the day, makes our hearts aching with that flying tire. Don't ask a thousand why in your heart. "Knights" have already foreseen what the end of this road will be. They flash back again and again in their hearts; "Because you represent what they fear-freedom", They know that "they will use killing and doing evil to prove their freedom to you", their sad "freedom"! So they ended their lives on the road, in the free run, leaving the poor people trembling in fear in front of true freedom, leaving their humble souls to flee in panic under the powerful shell of hypocrisy! Death, here is a kind of final escape and rebirth, and the final relief for these dream-seekers. In this way, the director's arrangement of the final protagonist's fate is poetic and gentle. In this fateful sadness, we recalled over and over again the last words Waytt said to our partner Billy. "We blew it ." Yes, we screwed everything up.
For a movie in the 1960s, the film's experimental attempt at montage is very advanced. The sudden jump between shots and the rapid switching between near and far scenes give the film a strange and neat personality.化atmosphere. It's like that marginalized youth. Its most distinctive feature, the interaction between real and subjective imagination, and the sudden flashback under normal narratives, creates a surreal atmosphere. Not only fits the "absurd" life and struggling heart of the protagonist of the film, but also casts a layer of philosophical thinking on this fatalistic tragedy.
Finally, music plays an indispensable role in the lives of that generation, and this film is no exception. Whether it is folk, country or rock, music is as important as the protagonist in the film. From the relaxed and happy protagonists on the road, the bright colors dominated by country music, to the increasingly repressed, large-scale rap, death gothic rock and roll, venting the accusations against society and the incomprehension of life, There is also the hysterical pursuit of freedom.
