Easy Rider (1969)

In a segment called "Movies that changed the movies" of their famous show, Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, among several others, were taking a look at this particular film in 1979. Easy Rider was the key to the "American Nouvelle Vague" known simply as 'New Hollywood', an important period in the history of (American) cinema lasting from around 1967 to 1976.
It came out at the end of the 1960s, that most tempestuous decade of protest and departure.
A whole generation was looking for new values to establish and 'Easy Rider' pretty much struck one chord with the young people and highlighted their feelings in its portrayal of two lonesome riders on motorbikes on their way through the States and on their search for freedom.

It should be said that 'Easy Rider' does not obviously take a side. But of course director Dennis Hopper (who died from cancer in 2010) and Co-Writer and -producer Peter Fonda were part of that generation, part of the counterculture and undoubtedly sympathized with the anti-establishment movements.

There is a legendary story about the movies' making that I happen to have just read so here you go:

In those days Hollywood's studio system was in big crisis. Therefore they turned to independent productions.

The idea for 'Easy Rider' came from Hopper and Fonda, who probably at that time looked exactly like they do in the film as they also star as the main characters. But it was hard to find someone to finance the project. American International Pictures just had turned it down because there were a lot of cheap "biker movies" made back then. Finally Raybert Productions gave them a chance, a week and 40 000 dollars to shoot a demo for them which would become the sequences at Mardi Gras and on the graveyard.
Poorly equipped, Hopper and Fonda hired friends and even picked up unknown people off the street for this task. Their idea wasn't yet thought out at all. All they knew was the names of the protagonists and that they wanted to shoot an acid trip. Rest was improvisation.
As reported by friends (and if you have seen 'Blue Velvet' you might get the idea) Dennis Hopper was so furious about HIS film. He was described as a paranoid maniac who went absolutely crazy. Drugs and alcohol were very much involved while shooting. On top of that Hopper also got in conflict with Fonda (especially after he had forced him to pray to his mother in the graveyard-scene who had passed away only short time before).
At the end of that first week most of the crew members had left. Hopper was then also arrested for drug possession. Not to mention that there were big issues with his wife who then left him.

Most people thought that 'Easy Rider' would become a disaster.

In the meantime Bert Schneider had convinced Columbia to distribute the film. Also they had hired Terry Southern, a pretty well-known screenwriter, to write the script. But after a big arguement Southern left again. Around that time they changed the name of the film to 'Easy Rider' previously known as "The Loners". According to Hopper, it was himself, who had written all the script all by himself.

Terry Southern said he wrote the entire thing that was just changed a little here and there.
Indeed a script by Southern exists but he never got any money from the film's success.
Even though he is in the credits and so is Fonda. Hopper actually wanted only his name to be mentioned under "written by" but Fonda would have never accepted that although he, and other parts of the crew, literally were afraid that Hopper would kill them if they messed with him.

The film was shot in California and some other states in the South of the US.
There was no desire for technical perfection in the production. Seven weeks later they were done but just before the end the two motorcycles were stolen. On top of that they had forgotton to shoot one scene at the campfire.

When it came to the assembly Hopper wanted the film acutally be four and a half hours long which lead to further arguements and delays. Finally the final cut was made without Hopper to 90 minutes running time.

On 14. July 1969 the film was screened for the first time.

Within one week it would have earned the money back that it cost - around 360 000 dollars.
It made then around 60.000.000 dollars.

Besides its critical acclaim and its respect among other filmmakers it was especially well recieved by younger viewers. Why? Because it articulated the feelings these people had in the 60s. It was one of the first movies to criticize the society and the political system of that period from the point of view of that young generation and in a way that you have not seen before.

It shows the two hippie like guys riding their motorcycles through the country that was no longer the country of the free but a country of lost values and generations torn apart. After a drug deal Wyatt (Fonda) and Billy (Hopper) set out on the road to go to Florida and fulfill their dream of freedom.
But as they drive through the country they realize that freedom is far, far away.
Early in the movie they are actually imprisoned and then meet a lawyer George Hanson (played by a still unknown Jack Nicholson) who first helps them out and then joins them on their trip. After some rude incidents the three men have conversations about what's wrong with the country they live in.
And a dream eventually becomes a nightmare.

The film breaks with rules of the classical Hollywood not only in terms of its loose story and its anti heroes and asthetics but also was very influential considering its use of music.

It was (one of) the first films to use contemporary rock music as the soundtrack that also heavily supported its story and message.

Easy Rider has aged quite a bit and may feel a little "alienating" for some still it is a very important film that deserves to be seen. The more you are aware of its background and the time it came out the more you will appreciate it.

New Hollywood had its beginning probably with "Bonnie & Clyde" and "The Graduate" two years earlier. But it was in large part Easy Rider's financial success as a B-picture that shook up the industry and paved the way for other young independent filmmakers to get a chance in this business. After the studios had failed it was time to focus more on young, individual artists to make movies. Think of Scorsese, Altman, Coppola, ...

It brought us such well known director's as Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, the two who then would make two movies that contributed to the decline of that period with 'Jaws' and 'Star Wars' leading into the more blockbuster-oriented next decade.

But - gladly - New Hollywood has also inspired several future directors who then became famous such as Spike Lee, Gus van Sant, Paul Thomas Anderson and maybe also Oliver Stone; Stone, a very political filmmaker who has also made "Natural Born Killers" (based on a story by Quentin Tarantino by the way) that is often called the 90s version of "Bonnie & Clyde". Aside of that of course, like the great Marty Scorsese (in Theaters right now with his first 3D-family film "Hugo", a tribute to cinema nominated for 11 Oscars), many of these guys are still working today.

These 10 years mark an important point for films and still have resonance today. It was a time that brought us something different, a time that brought us change. Easy Rider was the movie that changed the movies.