Hair Update December 2022

 

20 March 2017

Update  28 December 2022

Hair 1979

• Director: Milos Forman
• Based on book: no
• Cast: John Savage, Treat Williams, Beverly D’Angelo, Annie Golden, Dorsey Wright, Don Dacus, Cheryl Barnes
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• John Savage – The Thin Red Line, The X Files, Do the Right Thing, Deer Hunter
• Treat Williams – 127 Hours
• Beverly D’Angelo – American History X, Edie & Pen, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, Slow Burn, National Lampoon’s European Vacation
• Annie Golden – Twelve Monkeys, Desperately Seeking Susan
• Why? A must have
• Seen: At least four times on stage, the film 5 or 6 times, now 11 March 2017      

       The first time I saw the play was in San Francisco in 1969. Most recently Hal and I saw it in Stockholm at Stadsteatern a few years ago with friends. A few weeks later we gathered in front of our TV to watch the film. For us the 5^thor 6^th time, for others the first. Each stage production is special. The film is special.

       Claud Hooper Bukowski, a hick from Oklahoma on his way to Vietnam via NYC, is brought under the enchantment of a group of draft card burning hippies, as is the rich girl Sheila. They’re both shocked and fascinated by the free-spirited rebelliousness of the hippies.

       The film is an extravaganza of dance and music, a feast for the eye and ear. It’s funny, political, sad, dramatic and filled with classic cinematic moments: Berger dancing on the banquet table singing ‘I Got Life’ at Sheila’s debut party. ‘Hair’ - straight, curly, fuzzy, snaggy, shaggy, ratty, matty, oily, greasy, fleecy, shining, gleaming, streaming, flaxen, waxen, knotted, polka-dotted, twisted, beaded, braided, powdered, flowered, and confettied, angled, tangled, spangled, and spaghettied – in a ‘Jailhouse Rock’ type celebration. The recruitment officers singing ‘Black Boys White Boys’.  Cheryl Barnes singing ‘Easy to Be Hard’ to Hud on the street – what a voice!

          The hallucinated wedding is long and boring and I will never forgive Forman for cutting ‘What a piece of work is man.’

           Or maybe I will. The scene with Berger marching into the cavernous black hole of the plane singing, ‘I believe in God and I believe that God believes in Claud, that’s me,’ – oh yes, I forgive Forman. What a heart-breaking scene.

            And the wars go on. In 2107.     

 

7* of 7    

Update 28 December 2022 - My young friend Fideli, 26 years old, had never seen Hair and I deemed it my civic and cultural duty to educate her. I invited her and her partner Jesper, who had seen it once, over for lunch and then the film. I was a bit nervous. One is when sharing a beloved bit of culture. She found it ‘interesting’, had never heard any of the songs before except ‘Let the Sunshine In’, and admitted that she now felt like an adult. Jesper liked it again, but he likes musicals (lovely guy). My reaction? Well, I must confess that 7* of 7 is a tad extreme but it is part of my cultural background (see above) so I will let it stand.

And the wars go on. In 2023.