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poster of Hair
Rating: 7.3/10 by 655 users

Hair (1979)

Upon receiving his draft notice and leaving his family ranch in Oklahoma, Claude heads to New York and befriends a tribe of long-haired hippies on his way to boot camp.

Directing:
  • Miloš Forman
Writing:
  • Gerome Ragni
  • James Rado
  • Gerome Ragni
  • James Rado
Stars:
Release Date: Thu, Mar 15, 1979

Rating: 7.3/10 by 655 users

Alternative Title:
Коса - BG
Kosa - HR
Vlasy - CZ
Juuksed - EE
Hárið - IS
Plaukai - LT
Lasje - SI
Вoлосы - RU
Hair - PT
Hair - ES

Country:
Germany
United States of America
Language:
English
Runtime: 02 hour 01 minutes
Budget: $11,000,000
Revenue: $15,313,606

Plot Keyword: vietnam war, new york city, army, hippie, free love, commune, musical, skinny dipping, lgbt, 1960s, gay theme
Subtitle   Wallpaper   Watch Trailer    

John Savage
Claude Hooper Bukowski
Treat Williams
George Berger
Beverly D'Angelo
Sheila Franklin
Annie Golden
Jeannie Ryan
Dorsey Wright
Lafayette aka Hud
Cheryl Barnes
Hud’s Fiancée
Nicholas Ray
The General
Charlotte Rae
Lady in Pink
Fern Tailer
Sheila's Mother
Charles Denny
Sheila's Father
Herman Meckler
Sheila's Uncle
Agnes Breen
Sheila's Aunt
Antonia Rey
Mrs. Berger
Linda Surh
Vietnamese Girl
Jane Booke
Debutante #1
Suzanna Love
Debutante #2
Joe Acord
Claude's Father
Janet York
Prison Psychiatrist
Rahsaan Curry
Lafayette Jr.
Steve Massicotte
Barracks Officer
Mario Nelson
Barracks Officer
Ren Woods
'Aquarius' Soloist
Toney Watkins
Colored Spade' / 'Ain't Got No
Carl Hall
Colored Spade
Howard Potter
Colored Spade
Nell Carter
Ain't Got No' / 'White Boys
Kurt Yaghjian
Ain't Got No
Debi Dye
Black Boys
Ellen Foley
Black Boys
Fred Ferrara
Black Boys
Jim Rosica
Black Boys
Lee Wells
White Boys
Leata Galloway
Electric Blues
Cyrena Lomba
Electric Blues
Ron Young
Old Fashioned Melody
John DeRobertas
Flesh Failures
Grand L. Bush
Flesh Failures
Melba Moore
'3-5-0-0' Soloist
Ronnie Dyson
'3-5-0-0' Soloist
Twyla Tharp
The Priestess (uncredited)
Peter Maloney
Court Clerk (uncredited)

CinemaSerf

I watched much of this convinced that Treat Williams was a very young Tommy Lee Jones, and despite the look of the film dating, it's still quite a potent and entertaining look at life amidst the draft. The rather naive "Claude" (John Savage) arrives from his home in rural Oklahoma into a New York brimming with vibrancy and eccentricity. He's on his way to join up to fight in Vietnam when he encounters "Berger" (Williams) and starts to fall into a life of gentle hedonism leading to his love of "Shiela" (Beverly D'Angelo). She and "Berger are from different sides of the tracks, but despite her silver spoon she has quite a rebellious nature and very much embraces her hippie existence protesting the war whilst stoked up on weed, emotion and idealism. They only have a few days, but in those days their relationships develop, thrive, vacillate and ultimately Milos Forman presents us with a quite subtly scathing commentary on a mid-1960s USA. I still think this works better on the stage - the confined space there forces the characters and scenarios together better, but this is still a strong big-screen adaptation that allows the music and dance numbers to retain much of their punch. The characterisations run deep too with plenty of their gang having slightly more than bit parts to complement the thrust of the burgeoning romance. It's perhaps that that lets this down a little. The pair are rarely seen together and the portrayal of their "love" is a wee bit on the shallow side. Musically, there are more than a few familiar numbers to keep the pace rollicking along, and perhaps the fairly explicit nature of some of the lyrics explains why this did rather better on the European Awards circuit than it did in the USA (or the UK). "Aquarius", "Good Morning Starshine" and the title song are maybe the most memorable but there are plenty more to get our teeth into as the rawness of the original Gerome Ragni book is framed within a cityscape dealing with racism, homophobia and just about everything to preclude the concept of "free love" (or even creatively inexpensive love). It's holding it's relevance quite well and is well worth two hours.


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