After watching Shampoo the other night I read up a little about it. The AFI (American Film Institute) has it ranked as one of the 50 funniest movies of all time. I found myself laughing at it a fair amount, but not nearly enough to make it one of the funniest movies ever. The humor reminded me a lot of another 70's movie Harold and Maude. The comedy comes for places of discomfort.
I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Both Harold and Maude and Shampoo were directed by Hal Ashby. At least in title anyway. According to the book Raging Bulls and Easy Riders Ashby is credited as the director but everyone knows that Warren Beatty was really the man putting the show together. The book goes on to discuss how this was a passion project for Beatty. Not only did he basically direct, he also basically wrote it although Robert Towne was giving top writing credit. It is known that the premise was Beatty's idea entirely.
Shampoo is a time capsule of a movie. It is about a male hairdresser who is sleeping with every woman he makes contact with. The film opens with him having sex with a married woman. He has to leave her post coitus to visit his "girlfriend"(Goldie Hawn). Beatty wants to start his own salon so the married woman suggests he talks to her banker husband. At this time we find out that the husband has a mistress (the beautiful Julie Christie {who Beatty was dating in real life at the time of filming}). We also find out that Beatty is screwing her too. In one scene Beatty goes to the married woman's home to wait for her. While he is waiting he has sex with her late teenage daughter. This is a late sixties movie for sure.
The performances are all top notch. This film has all of these actors at the top of their games. Beatty is one of the most honest male actors I can think of. I made a comment on my Stagecoach review that John Wayne never told a lie on screen. Beatty is right up there with him. The script is close to perfect as well. Again I shouldn't be surprised. Towne had writing credits on many of the most influential films of the 60' and 70's.
Another thing of note about the film is the soundtrack. Hal Ashby was a hippie and there is no other way to say it. This film has 2 Beatles songs, The Beach Boys, Jefferson Airplane, Jimi Hendrix, Carrol King and The Monkees. Today the rights for that soundtrack would be in the 10 of millions of dollars. If there is one complaint I have it is that the films backdrop is LA during the Nixon presidential race of '68 against Herbert Humphrey. I think this was meant to help symbolize a shift in the political contentiousness that was happening at the time. It seamed a little tacked on to me. Beatty is well know for his political opinions.
The movie is playful and touching. It never talks down to it's viewers and it knows what it is doing. This is a very well though out and well constructed film. No surprise. Beatty has a reputation for being a perfectionist. I enjoyed this film and I give it a 3.5/5 stars. Check out The Trailer Park and see for yourself.
No comments:
Post a Comment