This outstanding documentary about the musical Hair held my attention every step of the way! The archival clips are wonderfully spread throughout the film; and we get so much interview footage, both old and new, with cast members and more. We even see members of the current cast of Hair as they practice for the current production of the Broadway show. This documentary has excellent bonus interview footage and overall it's truly a fine documentary for one of the best musicals ever produced.
Ben Vereen, who acted in the original stage play, refers to Hair as a "movement;" and he is very much correct. Hair captured the essence of what so many young Americans thought about the war in Vietnam during the late 1960s. This documentary shows that Hair did not shy away from displaying the lives of these young people as people; they were not merely a "bunch of hippies" to be thoughtlessly discarded by society. The film shows how the musical brought out the hopes of this generation who openly questioned authority and spurned conventions, even doing a nude scene on stage was acceptable and indeed a declaration that the human body is beautiful and nothing to be ashamed of.
As for that archival footage, there's certainly no shortage of it. We see James Rado and Gerome Ragni on The Johnny Carson Show in 1968; and there's some footage of the cast of Hair performing a number on the same TV show as well. Look for a rather young Tim Curry being interviewed and we see Director Milos Forman reflect on his motion picture version of Hair. Hair actors Melba Moore and Keith Carradine also provide good insight and reflections on the original stage play; and it's all fascinating.
In addition, this motion picture makes it clear that, sadly, certain things have not changed. While the young people in the 1960s truly thought they were changing the world as they hoped so much to create a true Utopia; this perfect way of life has yet to be. The war in Vietnam raged on then; and the war in Iraq rages on today. Utopia remains a concept more than anything that, at least for now, could ever truly exist. But wow, how I give those young men and women credit for what they did to take their stand against the war!
All in all, this is probably the best documentary film available on Hair. I highly recommend this for anyone who loves the musical either in its original version, the movie version or the current version running on Broadway as I write this. If you add this to your DVD collection, you won't be disappointed.
This outstanding documentary about the musical Hair held my attention every step of the way! The archival clips are wonderfully spread throughout the film; and we get so much interview footage, both old and new, with cast members and more. We even see members of the current cast of Hair as they practice for the current production of the Broadway show. This documentary has excellent bonus interview footage and overall it's truly a fine documentary for one of the best musicals ever produced.
Ben Vereen, who acted in the original stage play, refers to Hair as a "movement;" and he is very much correct. Hair captured the essence of what so many young Americans thought about the war in Vietnam during the late 1960s. This documentary shows that Hair did not shy away from displaying the lives of these young people as people; they were not merely a "bunch of hippies" to be thoughtlessly discarded by society. The film shows how the musical brought out the hopes of this generation who openly questioned authority and spurned conventions, even doing a nude scene on stage was acceptable and indeed a declaration that the human body is beautiful and nothing to be ashamed of.
As for that archival footage, there's certainly no shortage of it. We see James Rado and Gerome Ragni on The Johnny Carson Show in 1968; and there's some footage of the cast of Hair performing a number on the same TV show as well. Look for a rather young Tim Curry being interviewed and we see Director Milos Forman reflect on his motion picture version of Hair. Hair actors Melba Moore and Keith Carradine also provide good insight and reflections on the original stage play; and it's all fascinating.
In addition, this motion picture makes it clear that, sadly, certain things have not changed. While the young people in the 1960s truly thought they were changing the world as they hoped so much to create a true Utopia; this perfect way of life has yet to be. The war in Vietnam raged on then; and the war in Iraq rages on today. Utopia remains a concept more than anything that, at least for now, could ever truly exist. But wow, how I give those young men and women credit for what they did to take their stand against the war!
All in all, this is probably the best documentary film available on Hair. I highly recommend this for anyone who loves the musical either in its original version, the movie version or the current version running on Broadway as I write this. If you add this to your DVD collection, you won't be disappointed. (http://www.amazon.com)
This outstanding documentary about the musical Hair held my attention every step of the way! The archival clips are wonderfully spread throughout the film; and we get so much interview footage, both old and new, with cast members and more. We even see members of the current cast of Hair as they practice for the current production of the Broadway show. This documentary has excellent bonus interview footage and overall it's truly a fine documentary for one of the best musicals ever produced.
ReplyDeleteBen Vereen, who acted in the original stage play, refers to Hair as a "movement;" and he is very much correct. Hair captured the essence of what so many young Americans thought about the war in Vietnam during the late 1960s. This documentary shows that Hair did not shy away from displaying the lives of these young people as people; they were not merely a "bunch of hippies" to be thoughtlessly discarded by society. The film shows how the musical brought out the hopes of this generation who openly questioned authority and spurned conventions, even doing a nude scene on stage was acceptable and indeed a declaration that the human body is beautiful and nothing to be ashamed of.
As for that archival footage, there's certainly no shortage of it. We see James Rado and Gerome Ragni on The Johnny Carson Show in 1968; and there's some footage of the cast of Hair performing a number on the same TV show as well. Look for a rather young Tim Curry being interviewed and we see Director Milos Forman reflect on his motion picture version of Hair. Hair actors Melba Moore and Keith Carradine also provide good insight and reflections on the original stage play; and it's all fascinating.
In addition, this motion picture makes it clear that, sadly, certain things have not changed. While the young people in the 1960s truly thought they were changing the world as they hoped so much to create a true Utopia; this perfect way of life has yet to be. The war in Vietnam raged on then; and the war in Iraq rages on today. Utopia remains a concept more than anything that, at least for now, could ever truly exist. But wow, how I give those young men and women credit for what they did to take their stand against the war!
All in all, this is probably the best documentary film available on Hair. I highly recommend this for anyone who loves the musical either in its original version, the movie version or the current version running on Broadway as I write this. If you add this to your DVD collection, you won't be disappointed.
This outstanding documentary about the musical Hair held my attention every step of the way! The archival clips are wonderfully spread throughout the film; and we get so much interview footage, both old and new, with cast members and more. We even see members of the current cast of Hair as they practice for the current production of the Broadway show. This documentary has excellent bonus interview footage and overall it's truly a fine documentary for one of the best musicals ever produced.
ReplyDeleteBen Vereen, who acted in the original stage play, refers to Hair as a "movement;" and he is very much correct. Hair captured the essence of what so many young Americans thought about the war in Vietnam during the late 1960s. This documentary shows that Hair did not shy away from displaying the lives of these young people as people; they were not merely a "bunch of hippies" to be thoughtlessly discarded by society. The film shows how the musical brought out the hopes of this generation who openly questioned authority and spurned conventions, even doing a nude scene on stage was acceptable and indeed a declaration that the human body is beautiful and nothing to be ashamed of.
As for that archival footage, there's certainly no shortage of it. We see James Rado and Gerome Ragni on The Johnny Carson Show in 1968; and there's some footage of the cast of Hair performing a number on the same TV show as well. Look for a rather young Tim Curry being interviewed and we see Director Milos Forman reflect on his motion picture version of Hair. Hair actors Melba Moore and Keith Carradine also provide good insight and reflections on the original stage play; and it's all fascinating.
In addition, this motion picture makes it clear that, sadly, certain things have not changed. While the young people in the 1960s truly thought they were changing the world as they hoped so much to create a true Utopia; this perfect way of life has yet to be. The war in Vietnam raged on then; and the war in Iraq rages on today. Utopia remains a concept more than anything that, at least for now, could ever truly exist. But wow, how I give those young men and women credit for what they did to take their stand against the war!
All in all, this is probably the best documentary film available on Hair. I highly recommend this for anyone who loves the musical either in its original version, the movie version or the current version running on Broadway as I write this. If you add this to your DVD collection, you won't be disappointed. (http://www.amazon.com)