Last Hippie Standing

LAST HIPPIE STANDING is a 45-minute documentary by German filmmaker Marcus Robbin about the counterculture scene in Goa, India. It juxtaposes the first hippies here with a later generation of travellers who came for the rave scene.

One of the positive features of the documentary is its inclusion of handheld camera footage that shows us how the first travellers here looked and spent their time. In contemporary interviews three figures represent the hippie community of the 1960s and 1970s here. Goa Gil came to India in 1969, after seeing the collapse of Haight-Ashbury, and developed the Goa Trance style of dance music. His friend Swami William came for spiritual enlightenment. The third figure interviewed is the late Cleo Odzer, a ditzy scion of a wealthy New York family who came in the 1970s. Her 1995 book Goa Freaks: My Hippie Years in India was a tell-all that, though it documented some of the troubling aspects of the hippie community like hard drug use, angered many of her peers. Those sorts of revelations are absent here, and indeed we just get from her some general remarks that Goa was a great place, a perfect den of hedonism. I found her portions tiresome, but since so much of the Super 8 footage is from her, I suppose we ought to be grateful for her participation.

The contemporary scene was documented in the winter of 1999-2000. Robbin captures footage of tourists in the market and at raves on the beach. There is also an interview with Francisco Sardinha, then chief minister of Goa, who says unabashedly that he does not want hippies, but rather wealthy tourists who can pump a lot of money into the local economy.

When this documentary was made, it juxtaposed historical footage of Goa with what was then contemporary. For audiences watching today, the documentary is doubly historical. The rave culture depicted in 1999 has now been more or less eradicated from Goa, with noise laws bringing an end to psychedelic parties on the beach. Plus the overpopulation and pollution has made the place less idyllic. When I visited Goa exactly a decade after the making of this documentary, all I found was mainstream clubbing like you'd find in any Western city and some incredibly filthy beaches. To a large degree, Sardinha got his wish. The documentary ends with Goa Gil and Swami William at the Berlin Love Parade musing on the gloabal impact of Goa hippie culture. That's pretty much played out too.

I found LAST HIPPIE STANDING interesting, but far too short. There are other areas that could have been explored, such as the changing demographics of the counterculture there (I find the rise in Israeli post-army tourism in India a fascinating phenomenon) and the transition from hippies playing guitars and flutes to the electronic dance music that is Goa Trance. It's hard to recommend tracking this down unless you are really obsessed with the overland trail and subsequent tourism in India.

As a long time goa-head, I thought this would be an interesting chance to learn how it all began, and see if there are still any of the old hippy vibes left in Goa. Sadly, this documentary is so sloppily put together, it's almost unwatchable.

The film starts with an absolutely horrendous song made up of an untuned guitar and someone who, also out of tune, tries to sing the title of the movie. It's really terrible to listen to, and you just want it to stop, but sadly, this "song", if you can even call it that, keeps returning throughout the rest of the film.

What follows is various people talking about India, goa-trance and hippies. Some of the interview subjects are legendary icons in the goa-scene, but the filmmaker does such a shabby job at asking them questions, they're often left rambling on about the most mundane subjects, while interesting anecdotes are cut short. You start to wonder how little material the filmmakers had to work with, since they include a several minute clip of two men singing "Row your boat" in the back of a cab.

Lacking structure of any kind, the film comes off as the incoherent babble of several talking heads, only loosely connected through being set in the same country.

But as terrible as all that is, what really ruins this documentary, is the editing. Scenes skip back and forth, with the audio and soundtrack stopping so abruptly, it sounds like someone is messing with the controls just to be a dick.

And just when you think it's gonna get better, comes that horrible theme song again... Bah.

If you have an interest in the culture of hippies during the 60s and 70s or the present culture of ravers, I think you will really find this movie entertaining. Its focus is primary on Goa, India, and how it was back in the 60s and how it looks now. I found this piece really interesting but perhaps a bit short. Though its short, its very informative and I really like those comparisons made all the time.

This short documentary shows a world that was forgotten. The Hippie culture. Many think it vanished in the 70's. This is wrong. And that's exactly what this documentary says. This is a journey into the heart of Goa and into the hearts of the people who abandoned society, left everything behind and went to Goa to start over. In search for beauty, peace, love and Spirit. The true essence is captured in the documentary, and there is a lot of information you might want to know if you are into the Psichedelic Trance culture. It's origins and why it was spread all over the world are some of the issues Goa Gil will be talking about, all of this along with some great archive footage of Goa back in the 60's and 70's. If you are not familiarized with this don't ignore it. I really think everyone should watch it, even if you are 16 years old or 70 years old (specially if you lived the 60's) it enlightens you to a sub-culture long forgotten but very real nowadays. It shows a growing Hippie culture that survived time and the pressures of society. This is a rare documentary to find. Make sure you grab it if someday it flashes before your eyes.