HAIR (1979)

Directed by Milos Forman

*****

Released in the spring of 1979 to rapturous reviews, this film seemed destined for greatness. It was, after all, based on the famous, some would say infamous, stage play, or tribal musical by James Rado, Germoe Ragni and Galt McDermot which explored the hippie counter culture revolution, the sexual revolution, and became one of the many anthems of protest against the war raging in Viet Nam.

At the time of its debut in 1967, on the Broadway stage, the depiction of drug use, profanity and nudity was considered radical, but most upsetting to conservative audiences was the irreverence for the flag of the United States. The musical broke down the conventions of the Broadway musical, creating something new, something exciting and something vital. Into the public consciousness through Hair came the Age of Aquarius.

When Academy Award-winning director Milos Forman announced that his followup project to One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) would be the film version of Hair, the suits in Hollywood thought him utterly mad. There was immediate concern about the play's lack of narrative, which Forman fixed with a strong screenplay written by the original creators of the play.

Opening in a small town in Oklahoma, we meet Claude (John Savage) who is boarding a bus to head to New York City where he will see the sights before basic training to go to fight in Viet Nam. Once in New York, he heads to Central Park, where in a sequence of sheer genius, Forman takes us back to that magical time in the 60s, the age of Aquarius, where free love, peace and happiness was all that was needed.

Claude is befriended by Berger (Treat Williams) and his friends, taken with them deeper into the park where he drops acid for the first time and has his mind blown with the experience. They are shocked at what he is doing by going to war and make clear to him that he does not need to do it, not for them. When Claude insists he does, they make it their mission to make his last days' stateside memorable. Of course he sees a girl and falls in love with her, giving Berger something to work towards. This love will become something more, that will see something terribly tragic occur, with Claude finally seeing the futility of the war and Berger the nightmare first hand.

Twyla Tharp, the brilliant choreographer of the film, captures the freedom of the time in her dance sequences, often with simplistic movements that are deeply emotional in their very simplicity, yet always near furious in their energy. The sheer joy on the faces of the dancers is part of what makes the sequences work. The extraordinary Let the Sunshine In at the film's end is simply one of the most jubilant and emotionally devastating song and dance numbers ever put on film.

Williams is terrific as Berger. Williams was on the rise at this point in his career and two years later would give an Oscar-calibre performance as a cop turning in his partners in Prince of the City (1981) before disappearing for several years. John Savage had made his mark a year earlier as Steve in The Deer Hunter (1978) and is equally fine in this film as Claude, the patriot who believes he must go to war, but slowly, through the efforts of the tribe, finds that peace is really the answer.

There is a sense of tragedy permeating every frame of the picture, a sense of knowing that something terrible is going to happen (and it does).

What I love about the film is that the director captures the essence of the play as well as the sense of period to utter perfection. Working with his choreographer, Forman created one of the greatest movie musicals ever put to the screen, but sadly so few people have seen it. I am begging you not to fear the film, embrace it. Forman is saying that we as people have something precious and unique; despite our differences we all have life. And that is worth celebrating is it not?

A brilliant film.