We Can't Go Home Again

Nicholas Ray cut two different versions of this film over the course of almost a decade, and unfortunately only the earlier cut, considered the inferior one, survives. Nonetheless, this is a mind-boggling film made with his students at SUNY Binghamton, a film which challenges most cinematic conventions of narrative (and technique) without coming off as merely "an experiment". The final "shooting" of the film alone is worthy of an essay: instead of optically printing and collaging the material, which was shot on various formats (35mm, 16mm, video), Ray and his dedicated crew actually rented a soundstage, set up a series of different projectors, and literally _performed_ the film live on a screen surrounded by an intermittently changing photographic "frame". The result completely prefigures the emergence of "film performance" artists in the decades to follow and surely makes WE CAN'T GO HOME AGAIN the only feature film by a major director to be constructed in such a fashion.

Furthermore, as a time capsule of late-1960s/early-1970s politics, sexual dynamics and freedom from convention, it's essential. Partially improvised and partially scripted, it can come off as a glorious mess at times, shot through with madness, but the overall effect is devastating. A very real-life electricity informs nearly every sequence; it's almost painful at times. WE CAN'T GO HOME AGAIN would be the final statement of a brilliant, neglected director, but more importantly, it's one of the most audacious features to be made by a director of films such as REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE. A masterpiece.

After crashing and burning with a couple of Hollywood epics director Nicholas Ray was in desperate need for work and from the looks of things a way to cover his bar tab when he took on a professorship in an upstate New York University and along with his students made this ambitious work of near total incoherency.

The film's form is a series of multiple disparate projections linked only by the fact they are sharing the same screen though I believe there are some attempts to sum up the chaotic times with a visual onslaught of youthful angst and insecurity goaded on by a dissipated over the hill film maker of Rebel Without a Cause. There's riot footage, frontal nudity by a student who refuses to put her pants on and someone taking David Crosby's advice in an overwrought mawkish scene shaving his beard. There is also the patch eyed visage of Ray in various states of consciousness trying to figure out a way to hang himself; "I made a dozen westerns and I can't tie a decent noose".

I was a film studies major around this time at another college and we more or less were doing the same experimentation (I recall writing on film stock) but with less hallowed Profs the likes of Ray (though we did have an instructor that resembled Lee Remick) . Our youthful exuberance matched his students but I can only imagine how buoyed they must have been under the guidance of a Hollywood legend, especially with the cool demeanor of a Ray. So bad as the finished product of We Can't Go Home Again is something tells me the journey for these kids made it more than worth the trip.

After years as a mainstream director, Nicholas Ray (of "Rebel without a Cause" fame) went to the State University of New York at Binghamton and got the students to collaborate on an experimental film with him. "We Can't Go Home Again" is somewhere between a narrative film and a documentary, with a lot of discussion about the student movements of the late '60s and early '70s.

It's hard to decide what to say about the movie. Without a doubt, it's unlike any movie that you've ever seen. Ray makes himself look all ragged throughout much of it. The movie is probably the sort of thing that will be of interest to film buffs but no one else. I also recommend the 2011 documentary "Don't Expect Much", about its production.

I noticed that in the credits, the Special Thanks section included the recently deceased Peter Bogdanovich.

We Can't Go Home Again (1976)

** (out of 4)

This semi-documentary turned out to be one of the last films from director Nicholas Ray, best known for REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE but that masterpiece was a long time ago and it's clear the man wasn't in the best of times. Ray, apparently needing money, decided to start teaching film at SUNY Binghamton and this film was basically his project for the students as they would film him and he would film them. This is one of the experimental films that really isn't about anything as we just get all sorts of scenes thrown together and probably for no good reason other than to be different or surreal. I will say that Ray manages to make the film surreal because it never makes any real sense. I'm sure those who are against all surreal moves might say that none of them make sense and their only real purpose is to make as little sense as possible. What we get to see is a group of very small vignettes by members of the cast who act out a series of events. There's a minor love story between a couple of them but it's hard to make out any real connection as everything is broken up so much. The one thing the film isn't afraid of is nudity because there's quite a bit of it. I'm guessing these film students agreed to go the extra mile because of Ray's filmmography but I'm curious how many of them regret it and especially after seeing the final film. There's even a strange sequence where one of the students walks with Ray as they discuss how each lost an eye. WE CAN'T GO HOME AGAIN is certainly a very strange film and it's only remotely interesting because of how weird it actually is. I can't say I'd ever watch the movie again but I think it has enough curious moments to make it worth viewing once.

I studied film at SUNY Binghamton and worked with director Nicholas Ray on "We Can't Go Home Again" in 1971-72 as both cinematographer and editor, as well as crew. See my IMDb record at http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2117029/.

I shot lots of B&W stills on and off set and you can find selections on Flickr at http://www.flickr.com/photos/mg-irc/sets/72057594135692080/. Two of my photos of Nick were featured in the book "Live Fast, Die Young: The Wild Ride of Making Rebel Without a Cause" by Lawrence Frascella and Al Weisel published 10/05. Those two photos and a few others can be seen on the Amazon site at http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0743260821/. Enjoy!