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Released by: Etiquette Pictures
Released on: September 22nd, 2015.
Director: L.M. Kit Carson, Lawrence Schiller
Cast: Dennis Hopper, L.M. Kit Carson, Lawrence Schiller
Year: 1971
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The Movie:
Documentaries about filmmaking and actors don't come much rawer than THE AMERICAN DREAMER - an often painful look at the making of Dennis Hopper's THE LAST MOVIE.
Hopper, fresh off the unexpected success of his low budget EASY RIDER, was thrown a million dollars by a clueless major studio to make his "dream project". This is a very old story in the endless yin and yang between art and commerce. Befuddled suits see dollar signs resulting from something they really don't understand - like a counterculture film - and decide to throw money at its creator, hoping he can replicate that success. It rarely works out that way, especially when drugs and ego get mixed in. Upon its release, THE LAST MOVIE bombed.
Most of Kit Carson and Lawrence Schiller's film (shot during the editing of THE LAST MOVIE circa 1970), is a brutal character study that follows Hopper around his New Mexico ranch as he edits his film and socializes and pontificates. The whole thing has a very funhouse mirror aspect to it, with Hopper acting like a character in one of his counterculture films as opposed to a man engaged in the serious business of editing a film. Viewed today, it's all fairly comical: an utterly stoned hippie making grand proclamations on various topics interspersed with rampant womanizing (Hopper in the hot tub with a couple of what look to be Playboy Bunnies is a highlight) and shooting off guns on his property. Then there's the actors carefully cultivated look - wild facial hair, Jimi Hendrix style flared jackets and his whole Wild West wardrobe. At other points, Hopper waxes messianic - and ends up looking a bit Manson-lite.
The documentary's viewpoint isn't exactly neutral either. We get the feeling that Carson and Schiller bought this load of pretentious horse manure hook, line and sinker. Perhaps they felt at the time that they were witnessing the putting of the final touches on a masterpiece. But of course, the film that was eventually released (and yanked from release very quickly), was an incoherent mess. A meta film about a film crew shooting a western in Peru that mixes fantasy with reality, the final product redefined navel gazing. Imagine a piss poor Jodorowsky knock off and you're close.
The end of this story? Hopper went into exile for years but emerged to become an extremely successful character actor in both arty (BLUE VELVET) and mainstream (SPEED) fare. Alls well that ends well.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Etiquette Pictures (the arthouse arm of sexy film specialists Vinegar Syndrome) had to use theatrical prints for their transfer since the film's negative was destroyed in a fire. The 16mm elements used are seriously grainy and that is represented in the 1080p AVC encoded 1.34:1 framed image. There is also a fair amount of print damage on display in the form of cuts and marks and hairs in the gate. Colors are strong however, and the overall appearance of the film very organic. The accompanying restoration featurette included as an extra on this release should go a long way towards showing the Herculean task that Etiquette faced making this Blu-ray presentable. The end result is never going to be reference quality, BUT it is a very watchable and natural presentation. Check the screencaps of this one to see what you'll be getting.
Audio is covered by a DTS-HD MA 1.0. track that has a persistent low-level background hiss. That said, and despite the limited range of the track, it's all entirely listenable. Dropouts and pops are not present.
The main extra is a half hour making-of piece that includes co-director Schiller. He's frank about being a bit clueless about documentary filmmaking when he shot this, but he ended up figuring things out. Hopper's co-star in THE LAST MOVIE, Julie Adams, pops in to talk about her experience working on that movie as well. Hopper's agent and producer appear to discuss the problems they dealt with on the sets of this film and THE LAST MOVIE. There is also a highly informative featurette on the restoration process involved in bringing THE AMERICAN DREAMER to Blu-ray. Considering what Schiller and his cohorts had to work with, the end result is nothing short of miraculous. Finally, you get a nice animated three and a half minute slideshow and a booklet with a nifty essay by critic Chris Poggiali.
The Final Word:
As a cultural artifact and piece of film history, this rarely seen documentary comes highly recommended. Etiquette have done a bang-up job presenting this against some pretty daunting obstacles as well. Essential viewing for fans of Hopper, counterculture film of the late 60's and film history buffs.
Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!
