HAIR - The Film

[Marquise]

Posted: 2/6/05 at 9:17am

Just caught this on DVD last night. I feel it is one of those "lost film musicals" that doesn't get the respect or recognition it deserves. In a world where the film musicals that are most often remembered are "West Side Story, "My Fair Lady" or "The Sound of Music", the 1979 film version of "Hair" is always overlooked.

I think Milos Forman and Michael Weller did a respectable job in transferring this show to the screen when most were saying it was unfilmable.

If not a carbon copy of the original stage show, the movie does an excellent job in sticking with the original stage show's intent and overall spirit.

Let's not forget the wonderful score by James Rado and Gerome Ragni which produced the instant classics: "Aquarius", "The Flesh Failures"(Let The Sun Shine In), "Hair", "Good Morning Starshine".

The cast (Treat Williams, John Savage, Beverly D'Angelo, Annie Golden Don Dacus, Dorsey Wright and Cheryl Barnes) all do a wonderful job in their roles and in a world where it's easier to hire a pretty face and dub away, this cast does it's own singing and dancing and look good doing it too!

I hadn't seen this one in years and I just walked away from it with a "Wow!" That ending sure packed a punch and sent a very real message loud and clear.

It was most definitely a reminder that when done right a stage musical can definitely shine on the screen.

Who else on the board has seen and liked/loved this film? Updated On: 2/6/05 at 09:17 AM

[BrdwayBaby]

Posted: 2/6/05 at 9:45am

Hair is definitly one of my favorite movie musicals. I haven't seen it on stage, would really like to some time though. It really doesn't get the recognition that it deserves though.

[GypsyRoseLee]

Posted: 2/6/05 at 11:26am

Definetly one of my favorite movie-musicals of all time.

[wildcat]

Posted: 2/6/05 at 11:35am

I remember Twyla Tharp's choreography capturing most of the attention when the film was released.

[Janki]

Posted: 2/6/05 at 11:57am

LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[newsieboy23]

Posted: 2/6/05 at 11:59am

Im actually suprised you're all saying you like it. I didnt think it really did much justice to the show. Most people complain that it seems really long and dry as well. I have very mixed feeling on it.

Posted: 2/6/05 at 12:01pm

It as extremely well-reviewed and I think it was even multi-Oscar nominated. It just never connected with audiences. It must have been the times. I remember going out to see it opening weekend and just...not...being...overwhelmed. Now I watch it and think it's wonderful. I can't imagine Hair being filmed any better. I guess it was ahead of it's time.

Treat Williams sure was the "It" boy at the time.

[wickedfan]

Posted: 2/6/05 at 12:26pm

I didn't like it. I didn't hate it, but I just never really got interested in it. The movie's plot was an improvement from the show's plot (or lack thereof).

[bronxboundexpress]

Posted: 2/6/05 at 12:31pm

THAT was Annie Golden?? Oh, yeah! I never realized that.

[Glebb]

Posted: 2/6/05 at 12:33pm

Love the film. I believe this is Twyla's best work. The dancers in the film are mostly from her company with others from Eliot Feld and Joffrey. Twyla performs the drug fantasy wedding vows.

[musicgal04]

Posted: 2/6/05 at 12:34pm

I haven't had a chance to see a stage production of the show, so the movie is really all I know. I liked it, but it left me with a funky feeling that is hard to describe. Maybe I was a little freaked out by the ending...or just annoyed at how impossible it seems.

[MissEmilyArden]

Posted: 2/6/05 at 12:36pm

And its not too bad to look at Treat Williams for 2 hours or so...

[sweeedboy]

Posted: 2/6/05 at 2:10pm

I think the movie is wonderful when looked at seperatly from the stage show. The movie for me didn't capture the most aspect of the show that enraptured me when i was in it, and that was the closeness of the whole tribe. The show while having principles really is all about the ensemble and the movie couldn't really do this. The movie still remains an incredibly moving piece and i really like some of the ideas they brought with it(ie 'walking in space' during boot camp).

[WISHIHADATONY]

Posted: 2/7/05 at 1:11pm

Twyla Tharp did capture most of the film's glory upon release....There was talk of a special Oscar of sorts for her work.

Particularly, I think people were awed by the "dancing horses" in Central park, twas quite amazing.

And the film featured that delightfully funny and sexy rendition of the song BlackBoys/WhiteBoys.

p.s. and remember Charlotte Rae pre Fact of Life dancing on the table?????

[erinrebecca]

Posted: 2/7/05 at 1:16pm

Maybe it's just me but I don't agree that Hair is overlooked when it comes to movie musicals. Everyone I know who loves theatre and musicals, also is familiar with this film. I remember the first time I saw it was with my grandma who is friends with Treat Williams' mom. Kinda weird but yeah, that was fun. She also got me hooked on Everwood because of him. :)

[leomaxfrank]

Posted: 2/7/05 at 2:24pm

Marquise - I'm surprised you think that it's so great. It doesn't stick to the original show's storyline at all. I mean, Tharp's choreo is wonderful, and the opening scene (Aquarius) and White Boys and Black Boys are totally fierce. But the rest of the film doesn't delineate from the original concept. Claude is hardly the focus of this film. It's centered around "star" Treat Williams as Berger, and he's the one that ends up going to Vietnam and getting killed. Claude is from a hicktown and is not even a member of the supposed tribe (which doesn't even really exist). I actually really dislike what they did with the movie. I understand that they wanted to create a plotline - but I think Forman's decision for Berger to be the focus and the sacrificial lamb at the end, is some strange sort of compromise with the story of Claude that I've always liked so much.

[zippyjen]

Posted: 2/7/05 at 5:28pm

I loved the movie. I have heard that it was nothing comparred to the show but who knows? I love the movie anyway!

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 2/7/05 at 5:37pm

I think it's one of the greatest movie musicals ever made. I love the many changes they made from the stage version - you couldn't possibly take the stage version of HAIR and successfully put it on screen, it's too scattered and would definitely not work on stage. I'm not partial to either version, but I love them both and they both accomplish the same goal with the same meaning. I think the anti-war sentiment is actually more realistically and more effectively depicted in the movie. It's a miracle that they kept the score basically intact and didn't try to make it "better." I was really moved by the movie, and thought the entire cast was excellent. I could not take my eyes off of Treat Williams - not only is he an extremely underrated actor, but he's SO INCREDIBLY SEXY! I couldn't get enough of him - I wish he were getting more work, other than terrible made-for-TV movies. As far ast Twyla's work, I thought much of it was well done and was a perfect fit, but moments of it were too "TWYLA!!" Overall, I adore this movie and Treat William's bare ass.

And no, HAIR wasn't nominated for any Oscars that I know of.

[Marquise]

Posted: 2/7/05 at 5:38pm

i have alot of "hair" recordings. i did the show in high school. i know the basic differences between the two. i still don't think the movie did the show any injustice and i think it was amazing.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 2/7/05 at 5:40pm

I agree.

[Marquise]

Posted: 2/7/05 at 5:41pm

munkustrap you echoed my sentiments about the stage/screen versions of hair perfectly. good post!

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 2/7/05 at 5:45pm

Why thank you.

[CurtainUp2]

Posted: 2/7/05 at 6:46pm

HAIR is one of favorite movie musicals. Not sure exactly why it wasn't more successful at the box office. Maybe it had something to do with the timing. Anyway... I can't imagine a better translation of the material. The show was so unstructured and abstract, which worked great on stage. But the movie needed some semblance of plot. There were a few scenes and sub-plots I could have lived without, but for the most part I thought it was superbly adapted. Two of my favorite scenes are the hallucinatory "acid trip" sequence and the performance of the song "Easy to be Hard" by Cheryl Barnes. What a great contrast: the one scene being so visually excessive and the other so stark. Barnes' performance of the song, filmed all in one take, staring directly into the camera and with practically no cut-a ways, is powerful and emotionally stirring! Another favorite scene is Treat Williams’ performance of “I’ve Got Life”, at Sheila’s coming out dinner. I love when the late Charlotte Ray gets up on the table and dances with Berger. Oh… and I just thought of another: the rendition of “Black Boys/White Boys” before the draft board, which hilariously pokes fun at ethnic, sexual and social stereotyping. Believe it or not, I’m actually in the scene that comes directly before that one. It’s the scene where Claude is walking down the street, on his way to the draft-exam, singing “Where Do I Go?” I was one of the extras in that scene. It was filmed on Liberty Street in lower Manhattan. I worked in the area at the time, and was around the day they were filming. I ended up as an extra in the scene. It’s my one claim to fame. Ha!

Updated On: 2/7/05 at 06:46 PM

[insomniak]

Posted: 2/7/05 at 6:48pm

I loved the movie when I first saw it, but I got used to the OBCR and now the movie soundtrack sounds... off. I like the altered versions of 'Aquarius', 'I Got Life', 'Hair', 'Donna' and 'Easy to Be Hard', but I the rest of it seems lackluster compared to the original cast, particularly 'The Flesh Failures'. I thought the original was perfectly haunting and frightening, but the movie's version annoys me.

[Menken Fan]

Posted: 2/7/05 at 7:01pm

Hair is my favorite movie musical ever, and Twyla's choreography is breathtaking. Let's not forget about appearances by Laurie Beechman, Nell Carter, Charlayne Woodard, Melba Moore, and Michael Jeter.

"If the baby comes out all white and squishy-like, crying his ass off, then we know Woof is definitely the daddy. But if he comes out all beautiful and chocolate brown, that's mine!"