Film Review: Hair (1979)

When the counterculture first appeared in 1960s, Hollywood initially tried to exploit it without really understanding the phenomenon. It took some time and critical distance for Hollywood film makers to start seriously exploring dramatic social changes of that period. It took even more distance for the real and psychological wounds of Vietnam War fiasco to be properly assessed and captured on the big screen. One of the more successful films to deal with those issues was Hair, 1979 musical directed by Miloš Forman.

The film was based on the eponymous 1967 stage musical which created quite a stir by dealing with contemporary issues of hippie subculture, drugs, sexual revolution and Vietnam War, but also through introduction of profanities, nudity and rock music which had been unimaginable on the stage until that time. Despite or, as many now believe, because of such controversies, the musical became great hit with many versions being performed all over the world in next few years.

The plot begins during the Vietnam War when Claude Hooper Bukowski (played by John Savage), young naive man from rural Oklahoma comes to New York in order to get drafted to US Army and decides to spend some time sightseeing. In the Central Park he meets group of hippies led by Berger (played by Treat Williams) and, not knowing anybody in the city, he strikes friendship with them. During next few days he goes through series of adventures, during which he is introduced to marijuana, LSD and other aspects of hippies’ unconventional lifestyles and also catches the eye of Sheila Franklin (played by Beverly D’Angelo), girl from the upper-class family who rode the horse in Central Park. Bukowski, despite his own doubts and Berger begging him not to, decides to honour his obligations and gets drafted. But his friends and Sheila don’t forget him and decide to visit him to US Army base in Nevada, where Claude goes through basic training before being shipped to Vietnam.

When it premiered, Hair was, sometimes disparagingly, referred as “period piece”. By late 1970s many of the concepts championed by counterculture found their way into the mainstream, and Baby Boomers, now faced with adult responsibility, cared more about making money than revolutionary changes of society. Hair pretends that such transformation didn’t take place and the film begins with “Age of Aquarius”, anthem of the movement confident that it would change the word; this confidence is reflected in impressive choreography by Twyla Tharp and her dance group. Director Miloš Forman, who was fascinated by counter-culture and express sympathies for anti-establishment individuals and trends in American society, adds to this with inventive and energetic direction that includes reconstruction of lively and massive anti-war protests, as well as original music numbers by Gerome Ragni and James Rado being staged in the perfect harmony with relatively simple plot. Forman is aided by excellent cast, which includes Treat Williams in best known role of his career. Probably the best casting decision involved John Savage, actor who perfectly embodied confused and ordinary Vietnam-bound American; his role is even better for those who had seen The Deer Hunter where he had played similar character who actually went and fought in Vietnam, and which makes the audience to worry about Claude even more and thus makes the film’s anti-war message even stronger.

The most crucial element of the film, however, is the script by Michael Weller. He drastically changed many of the characters and plot developments from the source, and most of those changes were for the better, not only in terms of making Hair more filmable, but also more accessible for the audiences born long after 1960s and Vietnam War. Probably the most important intervention is the ending, in which Weller added both black humour and pathos, resulting in “Let the Sunshine In”, one of the most powerful finales in history of cinema. Sadly, lessons of Vietnam War weren’t learned and America will repeat some of those mistakes in decades to come, but Forman’s Hair can’t be blamed for trying to its best to prevent it.

RATING: 9/10 (+++)

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Movie URL: https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/10654-hair
Critic: AAA