Easy Rider (35mm)

(Dennis Hopper, US 1969, 95 min., 35mm)

One of a handful of American films of the late 1960s to use the social context of the period to express discontent towards the status quo, Easy Rider follows hippie bikers Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper from somewhere in the west to New Orleans, the promised land of the Mardi Gras. After they close a big drug deal (with Phil Spector!), their trek across America brings them in touch with a panoply of characters who collectively represent the contradictory mood of the times. Jack Nicholson gained national attention for his role as the drunken "law'er with the ACLU."