Easy Rider is an adventure/drama film directed by Dennis Hopper in 1969. The film focuses on two hippy bikers named Billy and Wyatt who are on a journey to find America. On this journey they travel from Los Angeles to New Orleans, and on their way they encounter numerous people, such as the people living in the desert who have very quiet lives and seem to do the same thing everyday.
There is use of iconography in this film, as one of the main characters: Wyatt, is dressed in really colourful clothes with an american flag on his back and on his helmet. It is ironic that he is wearing the american flag and is then killed by an american citizen at the end of the film. It is the antithesis of the "American dream", it rejects materialism and needing to work towards a goal of having a good job and a family etc. There is a huge emphasis on freedom as the two main characters are on the road and don't have anything on their minds other than being free and having a good time. They're very youthful looking, it would be guessed that they're possibly in their early 20's. This makes them more relatable to the audience at the time, especially since the whole rebellion thing was really taking off. Especially, as during 1969 when this film came out, there were lots of protests, such as the protests against the Vietnam War.
Another character in the film is George Hanson (played by Jack Nicholson) contrasts heavily to Billy and Wyatt as George is very naive and innocent. He gets this persona due to the way he doesn't seem to understand things that the other characters do. He is very easily lead, and smokes weed for the first time while in the company of Billy and Wyatt. He's a drunk and a conspiracy theorist, and throughout the film it is clear that he doesn't mean any harm.
Something that stands out with this film is the soundtrack, nearly every time that the two main characters are on the road there is a soundtrack playing along side the visuals. The soundtrack includes lots of rock music from the likes of Steppenwolf who released the world renowned "Born To Be Wild". You could also say that the scenes where Billy and Wyatt are on the road with the music in the background could also be described as a montage due to the large number of different locations that they have footage from. The use of this rock soundtrack was groundbreaking for it's time, as hardly any films used this genre of music. Some of the songs also reference drugs which could be considered quite controversial.
There is one specific sequence in this film that is very interesting and unusual, which is the Mardi Gras sequence where Wyatt and Billy along with two prostitutes take acid and end up going on a "trip". This scene is very unnerving due to the psychedelic elements to it: the bold colours, the distorted camera angles, and the quality of the sound. The non-linear shots represent the feeling of taking drugs and give the audience a glimpse as to what it is like to take a hallucinogen. The non-linear shots also show how time has distorted and is now moving really slowly for the characters and there is a great sense of confusion. The grainy effect due to it being shot on 16mm film really adds to this confusion.
There isn't much depth to the female characters in this film. They're very objectified- particularly in the scene where they go swimming and the females are the only ones who are swimming nude. The majority of the female characters are just there to be objectified for the men. The "lead" females are prostitutes and that's all that there is to their characters. It's not giving a very realistic representation of females.
There is use of iconography in this film, as one of the main characters: Wyatt, is dressed in really colourful clothes with an american flag on his back and on his helmet. It is ironic that he is wearing the american flag and is then killed by an american citizen at the end of the film. It is the antithesis of the "American dream", it rejects materialism and needing to work towards a goal of having a good job and a family etc. There is a huge emphasis on freedom as the two main characters are on the road and don't have anything on their minds other than being free and having a good time. They're very youthful looking, it would be guessed that they're possibly in their early 20's. This makes them more relatable to the audience at the time, especially since the whole rebellion thing was really taking off. Especially, as during 1969 when this film came out, there were lots of protests, such as the protests against the Vietnam War.
Another character in the film is George Hanson (played by Jack Nicholson) contrasts heavily to Billy and Wyatt as George is very naive and innocent. He gets this persona due to the way he doesn't seem to understand things that the other characters do. He is very easily lead, and smokes weed for the first time while in the company of Billy and Wyatt. He's a drunk and a conspiracy theorist, and throughout the film it is clear that he doesn't mean any harm.
Something that stands out with this film is the soundtrack, nearly every time that the two main characters are on the road there is a soundtrack playing along side the visuals. The soundtrack includes lots of rock music from the likes of Steppenwolf who released the world renowned "Born To Be Wild". You could also say that the scenes where Billy and Wyatt are on the road with the music in the background could also be described as a montage due to the large number of different locations that they have footage from. The use of this rock soundtrack was groundbreaking for it's time, as hardly any films used this genre of music. Some of the songs also reference drugs which could be considered quite controversial.
There is one specific sequence in this film that is very interesting and unusual, which is the Mardi Gras sequence where Wyatt and Billy along with two prostitutes take acid and end up going on a "trip". This scene is very unnerving due to the psychedelic elements to it: the bold colours, the distorted camera angles, and the quality of the sound. The non-linear shots represent the feeling of taking drugs and give the audience a glimpse as to what it is like to take a hallucinogen. The non-linear shots also show how time has distorted and is now moving really slowly for the characters and there is a great sense of confusion. The grainy effect due to it being shot on 16mm film really adds to this confusion.
There isn't much depth to the female characters in this film. They're very objectified- particularly in the scene where they go swimming and the females are the only ones who are swimming nude. The majority of the female characters are just there to be objectified for the men. The "lead" females are prostitutes and that's all that there is to their characters. It's not giving a very realistic representation of females.
Sources:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064276/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easy_Rider_(soundtrack)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064276/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easy_Rider_(soundtrack)