Hair
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Movie Reviews of Hair
Movie Review: Feel it
Summary: 5 Stars
Excellent and inspiring movie. I can't believe how many people are not yet familiar with either the stage musical or the movie. This will definitely evoke the late sixties for anyone over 40, and give light into what the era was about for younger folk. Please do be aware that, although my 6 year old daughter is thrilled to watch the movie over and over, there are quite a few parts that are not appropriate for the under 17 crowd.Movie Review: My first day in Central Park
Summary: 5 Stars
They were filming this movie.. what an experiance to get to live it over and over again. Movie Review: Super Movie
Summary: 5 Stars
Really good older movie. I watched thsi when I was in my 20s. Loved it so much, asked my mom to watch it with me ... and she loved it. She is in her 70s now and still remembers the movie. It shows a lot of the emotions that were going on in the 60s with the Vietnam War. Also how teenager were in the era with sex, drugs and music.Movie Review: Hippies In Curlers . . .
Summary: 2 Stars
What a long strange trip it's been. Barely ten years after its original theatrical run, Hair was brought to the screen by people who either hadn't seen it, didn't like it or just didn't get it or the themes it explored. Director Milos Forman apparently missed the 1960s entirely (or saw them exclusively through the lens of Soviet oppression and student demonstrations in Eastern Europe) and he seems to think that David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust and Peter Frampton were hippies. Treat Williams is a surprisingly good singer and dancer and quite good in the role of Berger but the film just misses the point - socially, politically and (perhaps most importantly of all) musically. The whole thing comes across as a put on and proof of the silliness of the counterculture.Movie Review: A VIBRANT FILM VERSION OF '60's BROADWAY HIPPIE HIT
Summary: 5 Stars
My first introduction to "Hair" was the classic 1968 Broadway Cast Recording. Much later, I saw the 1979 film version on Showtime and loved it!! Years rolled by, and I saw an excellent stage production at Seattle's 5th Avenue Theatre (twice) and added "Hair: The London Cast Recording" to my collection. I felt the time was right to view the film version again.
With eleven years between the original Broadway production and the film version, time allows for a different perspective. "Hair: The Movie" is not about "what's happening, baby, " as the stage production had been. But, it had to, and does, evoke some of the spirit of the late 1960's era. As director Milos Forman said: "When you are in the middle of a storm like the '60's, you do not have time to think about what is going on. With distance, now I can look at the period and see the contradiction, the humor."
Of course, there are differences between the stage and film versions. In the stage musical, the main characters of Claude, Berger, Shelia, etc. are all a merry band of hippies. Claude is conflicted. Will he burn his draft card or fight in Vietnam? In the film, Claude (John Savage) is a hick (from Oklahoma, I gather) who goes to NYC to join the Army and go to Vietnam. He meets Berger (Treat Williams) and his hippie pals in Central Park, who introduce him to the joys of drugs, sex, peace, freedom. happiness, etc. Shelia (Beverly D'Angelo) is now a society debutante who is drawn into the hippie group due to the mutal attraction between her and Claude. Of course, the hippies try to save Claude from going to Vietnam, and the film's "ironic twist ending," although different from the stage version, is every bit as moving and heartbreaking.
The film has an especially vibrant energy and the cast, particularly sexy Treat Williams as hippie leader Berger, is extremely charismatic. Most of the celebrated score by Gerome Ragni, James Rado, and Galt MacDermot, is included here; although a few songs are rather clumsily inserted into the film screenplay by Michael Weller. For instance, "Walking In Space," a drug use scene/song in the stage version, underscores an Army training sequence in the film. A few odd changes do not detract from the overall impact of the film, however. The opening number "The Age Of Aquarius," set in Central Park, is thrilling. Treat Williams' party crashing performance of "I Got Life", Cheryl Barnes' emotional showstopper "Easy To Be Hard", and the gender switching treatment of the "Black Boys/White Boys" number are a few other outstanding moments.
"Hair" belongs on that short list of film adaptations that manage to capture the spirit of the original stage musical and are a completely successful film musical in their own right. ("West Side Story," "The King And I," "The Sound Of Music," "Cabaret," and "Chicago" are the others). I'll never understand why the film version of "Hair" did not achieve the same success as the film version of "Grease," that shumaltzy/sleazy. over-rated tribute to the 1950's. "Hair" certainly has more grit, emotional power, better songs, and a stronger, more important message than "Grease." I don't even own "Grease," but "Hair" deserves to be in the library of everyone who loves the late 1960's and Broadway/film musicals.