Revolution

This 1968 documentary (occasionally quasi-documentary) may seem to some nothing more than a disjointed mishmash of stoned loonies leaping around ad nauseam - and of course it is - but as one who lived through it, I'd have to say this is the best representation, in an hour and half at least, of the lunatic craziness, the ridiculous sense of barefooted freedom, and wide-eyed innocence that was "the hippie revolution" I've ever seen. It was totally unexpected.

Sure most of the interviews are banal -though representative of the time - and much of the "freedom" demonstrated by all these middle class kids seems forced or false, and as a consequence laughable and clichéd now. But there's an essence captured here, due in large part I think to Jack McConnell just letting his camera rove around, that gives you at least a hint of the absolute excitement that electrified the scene for maybe a year and a half.

And the end is foretold too, if you look closely enough - the drugs, of course, plus a lack of a cohesive philosophy, the unabashed panhandling, the growing divide between the musicians, who were still operating within the capitalist system and the bulk of the hippies who were vainly trying to escape the bonds represented by money, and the general naiveté.

The best parts of the film: the music, especially Quicksilver Messenger Service, Country Joe & the Fish's "Section 43", the Charlatan's Dan Hicks' little acoustic ditty, and an actual clip of the Ace of Cups (arguably the first all female rock band) in concert. Also the fashions - as time slips away you forget just how outrageous and colorful they were at the start before everything went olive drab; those tight-lipped, smug representatives of authority who still make me want to leap through the screen with a flame thrower a la Harold Pinter; and that ineffably sad and nutty conversation between "Today" Malone and some guy about the genetic dangers of taking LSD.

And sure, the naked girls romping through the tall grass seems clichéd today though it really wasn't so much back in '67 (or was it?), and the San Francisco Dance Troupe's performance goes on a tad too long, but I think this film gives a pretty good overview of what it was like back then, for good or bad, before it all went to hell.

While I'm not crazy about the soundtrack, I agree with both:

Seeing this film was like reliving my teen years..., 28 May 2004 9/10 Author: (karenletitiaZ) from Northern California

AND

bad film-making, good documentation, 20 May 2001 Author: Matt Moses from Brooklyn, NY

re: relating the overall fundamental experience of the times -- and a much more satisfying one than "The Trip" w/ Peter Fonda (and I forget who else). For those who'd like to view a fiction film that truly captures the essence of the mid-60s to mind-70s (or so), I most highly recommend (the still virtually unheard of and WAY under-viewed and under-appreciated) Authur Penn's "Four Friends" -- Look it up!!

For those who wish to know more re: the politics behind the time -- i.e., how LSD came into the drug scene and why it's been outlawed -- I most highly recommend this most-excellent article!:

www(dot)mind*mined (dot) com/ public_ library/ nonfiction/ Jessica_ Locke_ del_ Greco _ L*S*D _research (dot) html -- REMOVE the Asterisks, blank spaces, change her name to SMALL Case, etc.!!

"LSD Research: An Overview" by Jessica Locke Del Greco

While not a user, I read 1/2 dz. books on LSD (back when), but, as mentioned by one guy in "Revolution," I was scared off by the media dis-information (Read the above article!!) and were the pharmaceutical- quality available in a environmentally friendly and *clinical* setting, I'd love to try to improve my state of Being!

Revolution is kind of interesting at first, just to see Haight Ashbury at the height of hippiedom, but the movie is so shapeless and rambling that by the last half hour I was fast forwarding through dozens of naked hippie chicks because I just couldn't take any more. It's also very strange to see a documentary with a star, in this case Today Malone. There are documentaries that focus on someone, but this seems more like the director had a crush on a girl and decided he would feature her in a movie so he could hang out with her, or something.

One imagines the filmmakers were stoned while shooting and editing. Nothing has any sort of context and amazingly dull, stupid people are allowed to prattle on at great length. Still, watching the movie it does look like it would have been fun to be part of the whole thing.

Revolution, an interesting quasi-documentary on the hippie experience in San Francisco, presents a day in the life of Today Malone, an attractive blond hippie (who might just be an attractive young actress playing a hippie). As with many of such films from the era, we're treated to lengthy pro- and anti-hippie banter, hallucination scenes, free-love themed nudity and excellent music (in this case, Country Joe and the Fish, The Steve Miller Band and Quicksilver Messenger Service, all at the creative peak of their careers). While at times absurd, this film nevertheless provides a fascinating document of the environment of hippie San Francisco, even if seen through exploitative eyes. As with the garbage on eBay, one needs simply to filter out the garbage to find the invaluable treasure.

I was in high school on the San Francisco Peninsula when this film was shot. I may or may not have seen it before. My memory does not serve me as well as it did! Anyway, I had the album soundtrack for a long time and always wanted to see the movie because the music was so indicative of that time in the Bay Area. I always loved Tracy Nelson (the lead singer of Mother Earth) who sang the title track. To make a long story short...I had always heard that it was somewhat of a "plastic" film. Having Tivo'd it recently, I realized that this documentary really GETS IT. The liquid light shows, the last scene in Buena Vista Park in the Haight and the interviews with some of San Francisco's still finest (Rev. Cecil Williams, the staff of The Haight Ashbury Free Medical Clinic, The Mime Troupe and the late Herb Caen). This movie DOES chronicle and capture the essence of that time period. The current Haight Ashbury has continued to practice some of the spirit of that time, but "hippiedom" was such a fresh concept in the late '60's. Now, well...have we learned anything in retrospect?