Post by StevePulaski on May 19, 2015 8:00:34 GMT -5
Five Easy Pieces (1970)
Directed by: Bob Rafelson
Rating: ★★★
Directed by: Bob Rafelson
Rating: ★★★
Bob Dupea (Jack Nicholson) is a surly cad, who works at an oil rig, undermining his extraordinary talent on the piano for middling, if momentarily comforting, financial security. He lives with his girlfriend Rayette (Karen Black), an aspiring country singer working as a waitress, who is often left in tears during Bob's many emotional tirades, though she still sticks by him through everything he puts her through. When Rayette reveals she's pregnant and Bob's best friend and coworker (Billy Bush) is locked up for robbery, Bob's pianist sister Partita (Lois Smith) shows up to inform him of the catatonic state of their father (Ralph Waite) following multiple strokes. Bob decides to quit his job and travel to Washington state to visit his family, something he hasn't done in years, taking Rayette along with him, expecting virtually nothing from those he hasn't seen or shown much love for in his recent years.
Five Easy Pieces explores the uglier side of humans through various characters that lack the ability to see the bigger picture or the perception of those they love. Bob doesn't understand why Rayette can be so hurt by his behavior when she's clearly at fault and Rayette can't understand why Bob won't capitalize on his pianistic talents and has such an animosity towards the people he meets. No character in this film is to be praised or cheered on, as all exhibit some kind of unhealthy impulse or personality trait that we've come, to find as a contemptible feature.
The film softly echoes that of Ingmar Bergman's masterful Wild Strawberries, about an elderly man reconnecting with his daughter, who is sickened by the sight of him because he takes pride in the fact that he can win over strangers while simultaneously hurt and belittle his family so regularly. It's a strange, underexplored trait that many possess, in that the attention and affection from strangers is easier to obtain than to return the love and support your family gives you. It's a trait that comes with forcing people who are normally cold and restrained to show loftier, more impacting emotions and the Bob character is the epitome of that central idea.
Five Easy Pieces explores the dichotomy through a series of vignette-style scenes that allow the audience to extract from them what they may. It's remarkable how this film, for most of its runtime, walks on a sharp knife-blade, teetering the line between farcical comedy (the famous diner scene or when Bob hops on the back of a truck carrying a piano in traffic) and emotional drama (the dinner table scenes at Bob's father's house, where Bob's father is a passive observer to his behavior), never falling and becoming one or the other.
In the meantime, Nicholson gives a strong performance simply in terms of being human throughout this entire film. Quite frequently, as stated, his behavior is contemptible and his treatment of those around him plays out like he was never ever taught "The Golden Rule" in school. Yet, this is why Bob is such an investing presence. He defies everything we've presumably learned about treating others with respect and gratitude, and Nicholson, an actor known for rebellious roles and his large personality in films throughout the beginning of his career, is convincing in embodying such a role.
Five Easy Pieces comes at a time during in American cinema known as the "New Hollywood" era, when the star system was being put into effect, films were becoming large-scale investments for studios (this particular film cost $1 million to make, a surprising feat at the time), and directors, particularly young ones, were beginning to forge names for themselves. This also meant the subject mater of films became weightier than the films of the 1950's and previous decades. With this change in the system, writers Bob Rafelson (also director) and Adrien Joyce (Carole Eastman) adhere to the period's principles by detailing the kind of coldness that is occasionally summoned inside people when they're forced to produce emotions outside of their control. However, with the talented Nicholson at the center of the film, they work to create a character who reveals this kind of anger whenever he's asked to produce some kind of emotion. Not only is the subject matter weightier than what was expected from Hollywood at the time, it's also much more honest and cuts deeper than may mainstream films ever did at the time.
Starring: Jack Nicholson, Karen Black, Billy Bush, Lois Smith, and Ralph Waite. Directed by: Bob Rafelson.