Hair (1979)
Description
Amazon.com Essential Video
The Age of Aquarius is brought to life by the filmmaker who made Amadeus a household word. Milos Forman directed this version of James Rado, Gerome Ragni, and Galt MacDermot's landmark musical in 1979 between his Oscar-winning films One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest a
Amazon.com Essential Video
The Age of Aquarius is brought to life by the filmmaker who made Amadeus a household word. Milos Forman directed this version of James Rado, Gerome Ragni, and Galt MacDermot's landmark musical in 1979 between his Oscar-winning films One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Amadeus. With mixed reviews (Gene Siskel named it that year's best film) and lukewarm box-office grosses, the film all but disappeared from the collective consciousness. Yet the film beautifully delivers on its promise to bring the '60s back to life. Hair re-creates a colorful world of counterculture finding an anvil to pound on: the Vietnam War. Forman and his design team allow the film to wash over you, starting at the free-flowing opening in which masses of hippies, police, and even their horses eagerly groove to the familiar beat of "Aquarius." In the best work of his career, Treat Williams makes his leading- man debut as Berger, the leader of the Central Park troop who takes draftee Claude (John Savage) under his wing on his trip through New York City and the apex of what the '60s was. The new recording of the music is quite fine, with Chicago band member Don Dacus's rendition of the title song a highlight. As Berger's pièce de résistance number says, "I've Got Life"; so does the film, right down to its poignant declaration to "let the sunshine in." --Doug Thomas
Review
While a disappointment at the box office, Hair is noteworthy for several reasons, chief among them the fact that it is a surprisingly good adaptation of a play that should have defied translation to the screen. Working with screenwriter Michael Weller, director Milos Forman has taken what on-stage was an atmospheric period piece with no discernible plot and created a coherent story with considerable emotional impact. The talented ensemble cast is of enormous help, especially Treat Williams, John Savage, and Beverly D'Angelo, but what makes the movie is Galt MacDermot's dazzling score -- and choreographer Twyla Tharp's and Forman's interpretation of it. From the camera's dizzying sweep around Ren Woods as she sings "Aquarius" to Savage's drug-induced wedding ballet to the crowded masses surrounding Savage in "Where Do I Go," the songs are staged with that rare combination of confidence and vitality that always mark the best moments in musical films. The sketchiness with which the characters are drawn, a problem arising from the large number of characters and compounded by lyrics that are more pop- than character-driven, damages the film, and many do not respond to its "take" on the 1960s, but overall Hair is a worthwhile and enjoyable film. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
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Hair
Rating : 9/10