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«Easy rider»

Easy Rider is a 1969 American road movie written by Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, Jack Nicholson and Terry Southern, produced by Fonda and directed by Hopper. It tells the story of two bikers (played by Fonda and Hopper) who travel through the American Southwest and South with the aim of achieving freedom. The success of Easy Rider helped spark the New Hollywood phase of filmmaking during the late sixties. The film was added to the Library of Congress National Registry in 1998.

A landmark counterculture film, and a "touchstone for a generation" that "captured the national imagination", Easy Rider explores the societal landscape, issues, and tensions in the United States during the 1960s, such as the rise and fall of the hippie movement, drug use, and communal lifestyle. Easy Rider is legendary for its use of real drugs in its portrayal of marijuana and other substances.

The protagonists are two bike riding drug dealers: Wyatt, nicknamed 'Captain America' (Fonda), and Billy (Hopper). Fonda and Hopper have said that these characters' names refer to Wyatt Earp and Billy the Kid. Wyatt dresses in American flag-adorned leather, while Billy dresses in Native American-style buckskin pants and shirts and a bushman hat.

After smuggling drugs from Mexico to Los Angeles, Wyatt and Billy sell their contraband to a man (played by Phil Spector) in a Rolls-Royce. With the money from the sale stuffed into the Stars & Stripes-adorned fuel tank of Wyatt's California style chopper, they ride eastward in an attempt to reach New Orleans, Louisiana in time for Mardi Gras.

During their trip they meet and have a meal with a rancher, whom Wyatt compliments for his ability to provide for his large family. Later they pick up a hitch-hiker (Luke Askew) and agree to take him to his commune, where they stay for a few days. Life in the commune appears to be hard, with hippies from the city finding it difficult to grow their own crops. (One of the children seen in the commune is played by Fonda's four-year-old daughter Bridget.) At one point the bikers witness a prayer for blessing of the new crop, as put by a communard: A chance "to make a stand," and to plant "simple food, for a simple taste." The commune is also host to a traveling theater group that "sings for its supper" (performs for food). The notion of "free love" appears to be practiced, with two women seemingly sharing the affections of the hitch-hiking communard, and who then turn their attention to Wyatt and Billy. As the bikers leave, the hitch-hiker (known only as "Stranger on highway" in the credits) gives Wyatt some LSD for him to share with "the right people."

While jokingly riding along with a parade in a small town, the pair are arrested by the local authorities for "parading without a permit". In jail, they befriend alcoholic ACLU lawyer George Hanson (Jack Nicholson). George helps them get out of jail and decides to travel with Wyatt and Billy to New Orleans. As they camp that night, Wyatt and Billy introduce George to marijuana. As an alcoholic and a square, George is reluctant to try the marijuana ("It leads to harder stuff"), but he quickly relents.

While attempting to eat in a Louisiana restaurant, the trio's appearance attracts the attention of the locals. The local high school girls in the restaurant want to meet the men and ride with them, but the local men and police officer make mocking, racist and homophobic remarks. One of the men menacingly states, "I don't believe they'll make the parish line." Wyatt, Billy, and George leave without eating and make camp outside of town. The events of the day cause George to comment: "This used to be a hell of a good country. I can't understand what's gone wrong with it." He observes that Americans talk a lot about the value of freedom but are actually afraid of anyone who truly exhibits it.

In the middle of the night, the local men return and brutally beat the trio while they sleep. Wyatt and Billy suffer minor injuries, but George is killed by a machete strike to the neck. Wyatt and Billy wrap George up in his sleeping bag, gather his belongings, and vow to return the items to his parents.

They continue to New Orleans and find the brothel George had intended to visit. Taking prostitutes Karen (Karen Black) and Mary (Toni Basil) with them, Wyatt and Billy decide to go outside and wander the parade-filled street of the Mardi Gras celebration. They end up in a cemetery, where all four ingest LSD. They experience a psychedelic bad trip infused with Catholic prayer, represented through quick edits, sound effects and over-exposed film.

Making camp afterward, Wyatt declares: "You know Billy, we blew it." Wyatt realizes that their search for freedom, while financially successful, was a spiritual failure. The next morning, the two are continuing their trip to Florida (where they hope to retire wealthy) when two rednecks in a pickup truck spot them, and decide to "scare the hell out of them" with their shotgun. As they pull alongside Billy and insult him, he sticks his middle finger up at them dismissively. In response, one of the men fires the shotgun at Billy and seriously wounds him, perhaps by accident. As Wyatt goes for help, one of the rednecks fires at him as he speeds by the pickup. The shot hits the gas tank of Wyatt's bike, causing it to explode. The explosion does not necessarily kill Wyatt, who was flung from the bike; the movie ends as the camera shows the flaming bike, then ascends to the sky, the duo's journey being over.

Guinea, 2006, Jack Nicholson in «Easy rider»