Surprisingly for the men behind 'Head', the light-hearted psychedelic trip of a movie staring the Monkees, Bob Rafelson and Jack Nicholson's 'Five Easy Pieces' was a serious and complex film that captured a particular moment in America. It is the deceptively simple tale of a drop-out from high society who can not overcome the frustrations of the simple life. Coming at the end of the loved-up Sixties and beginning the incredible run of intelligent, emotional and social films of Seventies Hollywood, as well as featuring Nicholson's breakthrough performance as the intriguing Bobby Dupea, this film marked a big shift from the rebellion to insecurity.
The three can be divided into three vague sections. The first part follows Nicholson working on oil fields, bowling with friends and having drunken parties with his friend and two women they've picked up, despite his relationship with the simple but devoted Rayette (Karen Black). This life clearly provides few concerns for him but offers no real challenges either and he is despondent. Upon discovering his father's illness he travel up country to his home. On the trip, he and Rayette pick up two lesbian hitch-hikers on their way to Alaska, one of whom expounds the lack of cleanliness in the real world, clearly shocking Rayette's basic understanding but amusing Bobby's more intellectual personality. The final part is when Bobby returns to his family home (having left Rayette in a motel) and we discover his true roots, from a well-to-do, creative group of musicians, and his own talents as a pianist. Here he is intrigued by his brother's partner and they sleep together, but when Rayette arrives he realises he will never be able to achieve the right balance in his life. After an outburst he leaves home, with Rayette in tow, but on a spontaneous instinct he leaves her at a petrol station and hitches a ride with a truck, to Alaska.
Nicholson's performance is fantastic and he received an Oscar nomination for this, his first significant role after his extended cameo in the seminal 'Easy Rider' the year before. He was clearly a man of the moment, very 'It' on the scene in LA, and he finally cemented this position with an intelligent and subtle performance, somehow conveying his character's inability to successfully convey his inner feelings. In the earlier parts of the film he is rather dislikeable, preying upon the insecure Rayette, apparently despising her but unable to leave her. When he suspects she has become pregnant he instinctively wishes to escape, his inherent belief that he is superior to both her and their friends repelling him away from the very basic life they live. Instead he seeks heads home, for a chance to rediscover himself and his potential.
His brother's partner, Catherine (Susan Anspach), both interests and is interested in him, encountering a man quite like no other she has known before. She in turn is attractive and cultured, a symbol of the life he could have if he didn't keep running away. Ultimately she won't leave with him, because of his character she says, and we realise he is lost and unfulfilled thanks to his own rebellious instinct. In a very touching scene, Bobby takes his father, who can no longer move or talk, out for a walk and confesses his inability to form strong relationships, stemming from their own uneasy experiences as he grew up. It is here we realise that this independent young man, who tries desperately to rebel against his origins, is in fact left with little hope for a future. Instead, he is unsatisfied and aimless.
The film itself is a little rough around the edges, typical of independent cinema in America at that time, but I persoanlly like this, with the film seeming much more real and spontaneous as a result. It also ensures more emphasis is placed on the great performances and carefully nuanced script. The timing of the film also makes it essential viewing for anyone interested in the films of the Seventies which reinvented American cinema and produced a group of great directors and actors. It's unfortunate, considering how much talent was involved at this time, that there are no longer such exciting roles available for actors like Nicholson and his colleagues, reducing De Niro to comedies, Pacino to shouting and Hoffman to family films. And aside from Scorcese and Spielberg, there are no longer the same directors working (even they have lost touch with the dynamic films they were making at that time).
Fortunately it appears current stars such as George Clooney and Matt Damon to ressurect such socially and politically engaged films. In the meantime, go back and enjoy this treat.
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