Road movies revisited in film screening

Yenni Kwok, Contributor, Jakarta

For the month of August, Teater Utan Kayu (TUK) has chosen the topic "road movies" for its monthly film screening.

Eight films deemed to be a clear representation of this genre will be screened this weekend from the evening of Friday, Aug. 23 to Sunday, Aug 25.

There is the cult road movie Easy Rider (1969), starring Dennis Hopper, Peter Fonda and Jack Nicholson. Another presentation is Zabriskie Point (1970) by Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni.

Other films on the list include John Ford's classic The Grapes of Wrath (1940), Vanishing Point (Richard C. Sarafian, 1971), Midnight Cowboy (John Schlesinger, 1969), Badlands (Terence Malick, 1973), Five Easy Pieces (Bob Rafelson, 1970) and El Mariachi (Robert Rodriguez, 1992).

Ending the weekend off is a discussion with photographer Oscar Motuloh, who is a movie enthusiast.

It is no coincidence that most of the selected films -- with the exception of El Mariachi -- are set in America, where there is still strong romanticism to travel off into the sunset on the country's many roads and highways.

"In the history of American cinema, road movies are identified with American culture and the world's imagination about the U.S.," notes the introduction at the beginning of the screening.

Oscar said many road films reflect the anxiety of that time, like the Great Depression in The Grapes of Wrath or the confusion of the Flower Generation in Zabriskie Point.

"The films tend to offer an alternative to finding a solution," said Oscar. "The protagonists try to discover their true selves by traveling because they cannot do it at home. It then becomes a philosophical journey."

Made in 1969, the year of Woodstock, Easy Rider was a collaborative work of its stars: Hopper directed and Fonda produced.

It tells a story about two self-righteous, antihero bikers, Wyatt (Fonda) and Billy (Hopper), who make a journey eastward through the American Southwest. The two characters, whose names curiously evoke two famous Western outlaws: Wyatt Earp and Billy the Kid, travel through various towns with narrow-minded residents, wild landscapes and a hippie commune.

It was said that Fonda went through his personal record collection for the movie's soundtrack, which features music by the top stars of that day, including Jimi Hendrix, Steppenwolf and the Band.

Studded with songs by Pink Floyd, The Grateful Dead, Patti Page and other legendary musicians, Zabriskie Point was Antonioni's first feature film made in America and a much- anticipated follow-up to his 1966 success, the London-set Blow- Up.

However, the film, which tells a story of two lovers from the restless Flower Generation, turned out to be a flop. Film critics panned the film script as being pretentious, and mocked the performances of Antonioni's first-time stars Mark Frechette and Daria Halprin.

Years later, as the film's bad spell was almost forgotten, film critic David Fricke wrote: "Zabriskie Point is not a historic film, but it is a fascinating window into a pivotal chapter of American political and cultural history. So is this music."

John Ford won an Academy Award for directing The Grapes of Wrath, an epic adaptation of John Steinbeck's 1939 novel. Because of the Great Depression and the prolonged drought, the Joads, like many other poor farmer families, leave their home in the central U.S., hoping to find a better future in California.

Henry Fonda starred as the film's main character, the short- tempered Tom Joad -- 29 years before his son, Peter, took the role of the vagabond nomad in Easy Rider.

In Vanishing Point, a taciturn driver named Kowalski (Barry Newman) makes a bet that he can drive a new Dodge Challenger from Denver to San Francisco in 15 hours. However, state troopers are not amused with his attempt, and a chase ensues between Colorado and California.

The Oscar-winning Midnight Cowboy portrays the companionship between Joe Buck (Jon Voight), a slow-witted Texan who works as a prostitute in New York, and Ratso Rizzo (Dustin Hoffman), a sickly, homeless con artist who dreams of moving to Florida. While the two friends try to get money for Ratso, they are confronted with the cruelty, seediness and corruption of the Big Apple.

Badlands -- the directorial debut of Malick (The Thin Red Line) -- tells a story of two young lovers who commit a killing spree in the Midwest. Kit (Martin Sheen), a James-Dean-style illusionary rebel, flees an imaginary posse with his naive girlfriend (Sissy Spacek) after they kill her insolent father.

A year after starring in Easy Rider, Jack Nicholson appears in yet another road movie.

Five Easy Pieces tells the psychological journey and awakening of Bobby Dupea (Jack Nicholson), an oil field worker, who is unhappy with his life and marriage. He finally finds his true self after he makes a trip to visit his sick father and bourgeois family.

The only non-American film to be shown is Rodriguez's low- budget film El Mariachi. The main character is a no-name mariachi (Carlos Gallardo), an itinerant musician who goes from town to town in Mexico, looking for a place to play his guitar. When he arrives in an unnamed town, it just so happens that a criminal, who dresses like a mariachi, is about to kill Roco, a crime boss, and as a result, Roco's thugs are on the heels of the naive musician.

Costing only US$7,000 to make, El Mariachi was an unintentional challenge to Hollywood's big budget productions. But it received critical acclaim upon its release and became a hit with its gripping storyline and the acting ability of unknown actors, who happened to be the director's friends.

I-BOX:

Friday, Aug. 23: 2:30 p.m. - Easy Rider (Dennis Hopper, 1969) 4:30 p.m. - Zabriskie Point (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1970) 7:00 p.m. - The Grapes of Wrath (John Ford, 1940) Saturday, Aug. 24: 2:30 p.m. - Vanishing Point (Richard C. Sarafian, 1971) 4:30 p.m. - Midnight Cowboy (John Schlesinger, 1969) 7:00 p.m. - Badlands (Terence Malick, 1973) Sunday, Aug. 25 2:30 p.m. - Five Easy Pieces (Bob Rafelson, 1970) 4:30 p.m. - El Mariachi (Robert Rodriguez, 1992) 7:00 p.m. - Discussion with Oscar Motuloh

For further information call Teater Utan Kayu, Jl. Utan Kayu, No. 68H East Jakarta. Tel: 8573388.