El Clásico

Well, it's El Clásico time on Monday with Spains answer to Celtic and Rangers, Barcelona and Real Madrid. Once again we are treated to the tedious faux Catalan nationalism of Barca, with Real Madrid portrayed as the love child of that great football tactician, General Franco. Don't believe me? Check out the wikipedia entry for the match history. Let me make it clear that Franco's dictatorship was barbaric and unjust. Yet he didn't make Real's success on the football field. It irks me that something as right wing as nationalism is given a free ride when it comes to Catalans. What makes Catalan nationalism better than, say, Welsh nationalism? They are both 19th century contructs, that have an us against them mentality. The fact Barca have Unicef on the shirts is seen as a great victory for charity, yet to the above left of their shirts they have the sponsors of the child labour giant Nike, where Nike pay me for this space than any other club as the Barca shirt is free of corporate cash (on the front at least).

I predict 1-0 Real.

"Let them buy their freedom, the free buy insecticide!"

(note: this article mainly talks about the original concept album, rather than the subsequent musical and film.)

The rock opera Evita, originally released as a concept album in 1976, equates freedom with consumer capitalism with the message that aslong as the free market is allowed to reign, people can make and sell their goods. The title line of this blog, used in the disc one closer "A New Argentina" and sung by the chorus character Che, represents the feelings of lyricist Tim Rice. It's not hard to see why Che's insecticide subplot was dropped when the album was transferred into the stage musical that it's best known for, as Che was turned into by director Harold Prince into literally Che Guevara despite the fact Che was nowhere near Argentina at the time the musical is set (1934-1952). No matter. This is the Che that the musical is best known for, for what I feel is a detriment. The Alan Parker film wisely reverts Che back to the everyman commentator, but still ignores the insecticide subplot.

While the musical derides the right wing dictatorship of Peron, the musical can't help but feel slightly conservative in tone, which is not surprising as it's written by the conservative Tim Rice. The album feels slightly anti-union, which was a general mood of the UK at the time with the three day week. The albums worst line is "screw the middle classes", sung is a high shrill like manner by Julie Covington that makes it seems the message this is unreasonable. Rice's approach to the material is that Person and Eva were wrong to target these institutions, and he was a demagogue. That he was, but not for targeting middle classes.

It also feels slightly misogynistic. Yes lyrics such as "her only good parts are between her thighs" are sung by army officers, they seem unnecessarily harsh and detract from a good attempt at dissecting Person's brutal dictatorship. Eva barely has any good points during the album, and always seems to be on the lookout for any opportunity to further her career which are mocked by Che.

Despite these misgivings, the music and the album as a whole for me are terrific, and very memorable. Composer Andrew Lloyd-Webber uses a variety of musical styles to convey Rice's lyrics, and on the whole they work very well. He uses the right musical styles at the right moment, while also using the right instrumentation. For example, during the musical break for "Buenos Aires" he utilises a distinctive guitar solo by Shadows guitarist Hank Marvin that works very well. The playing hints at Eva's ambition, frantically matching the pulsating beat. Credit also must go to the singer who plays Eva, Julie Covington. She sings most of the songs in the same cold, calculating manner which matches Rice's portrayal of Eva as the ultimate personification of her as Machiavellian ingenuity. Whilst she does pronounce some words horribly wrong (most notably descamisados), I feel she has been the only Eva who has matched Rice's ambition.

Credit also must go to Colm Wilkinson for his portrayal of everyman Che. He sings with a certain cynicism at the proceedings, while also hoping that Person's worker lead dictatorship can result in the capitalism that Rice believes in ("To see an underdog succeed/Is the encouragement I need").

Best song: "High Flying Adored", perhaps Che's first seeing as Eva as only driven by ambition, not love for the people
Best lyric: "High flying, adored, so young, the instant queen, a
Rich beautiful thing of all the talents, a cross between a
Fantasy of the bedroom and a saint" which best explains why people are still fascination by Eva today, and not Margaret Thatcher.

"D-I-V-O-R-C-E"

His girlfriend idolises Tammy Wynette, endlessly singing and listening to her songs. He can't stand it, and more to the point, he used to be a child prodigy, though she doesn't realise what he actually was. This about sums up Bob Rafelson's Five Easy Pieces. The central character is Robert Dupea. This is a man who never feels comfortable in any surrounding, who always feels like a failure. His middle name is Eroica, which gives us hints as to who he is and where he comes from. He is a mystery, a man who doesn't belong and pushes everyone away from himself.

From the start, Dupea appears to be a blue collar, oil rigger who's life lacks direction. His girlfriend is a not-so-bright waitress named Rayette, who aswell as Wynette, idolises Dupea. He doesn't seem to even give her a passing glance, and she knows it, chiding him "There isn't anybody gonna look after you AND love you, as good as I do.". She's right. Dupea cares for no one but himself, and feels uneasy in any situation he is. Witness an early scene where they are bowling with a couple. Dupea seems embarrassed by Rayette, and when two women come onto him, he lights up for the first time in the scene.

By this point whoever, he seems an ordinary guy, yet uncontent with his surroundings. A scene where he is stuck in traffic, then jumps on a truck to play a piano suggests odd behaviour. This is a man who won't tell his friends who he is, or let them come close. He eventually going to an LA recording studio, where his sister is recording a piece. She informs him their father has had a stroke that is incapacitated him, and he has not much longer to live so Robert must see her.

From here, we see the duality that Robert goes through to maintain a social facade. In the blue collar world of oil rigging, he is know as Bobby, an informal name yet when he returns to Washington state to see his family, he is known formally as Robert. Whilst he chose to abandon his wealthy upbringing to search for his personal freedom in his life, he seems embarrassed by his new life, not letting Rayette come to the house and leaves her in a motel. Dupea has been running from his past life, but it is not clear why. He is a man who just runs from everything, with no clear goal in mind.

It has been said that film was made at the time the New Hollywood was kicking off, and introspective characters were now going to become the norm in this new pictures. Yet, how many introspective, despairing characters are there now? They know what they want, but not always how to get it. Dupea does not know what he wants, and is often impulsive, quitting his oil rigger job as soon as he falls out with his friend Elton. This is a man with a bleak future, who can fall back on his wealthy past yet chooses to turn away from it. The instant classic "chicken salad" scene just hints at the rage beneath the surface.

At his family's home, he falls for his brothers girlfriend and student, Catherine. His family seem very loving, yet he hates the comfort. in Catherine finally seems to be a woman who understands, and identifies with him yet evidently she struggles to comprehend why he turned his back on his past life. Their differences are immediate. He feels alienated and bored in their massive house, yet she reveals she has never been bored in her life. She sees a man who had all that life give, and he chose to turn away and in unappreciative. Yet while she convinced him to return to the piano, and appears to be moved by his piece, Dupea again reveals his torment by that he played the easiest piece he knew and that he believes she is faking her response. They make love, but she refuses to commit, stating in perhaps the most accurate description of Dupea one can muster "If a person has no love for himself, no respect for himself, no love of his friends, family, work, something - how can he ask for love in return? I mean, why should he ask for it?". She is right, and he is devastated.

She doesn't understand however that he feels himself to be a failure, as he reveals to his unresponsive father in a heart rendering scene. Dupea reveals that his piano playing never pleased his father, and that's why he is always running. This emotional scene reveals the core of the film. While the film may be straight forward in it's approach, it reveals human characters that surprise you with their reactions.




And always run he shall. In the climatic scene at a gas station, a despondent Dupea looks in the mirror in the bathroom, clearly not liking what he sees. The gaze as it is known, is a method in cinema for personal reflection, usually in the negative sense. With Rayette occupied, Dupea senses an escape and hitches a ride from a trucker, Destination anywhere. Just like the wealthy drop outs on the commune in Easy Rider, he is escaping from his pressurised environment. Dupea is a man who will always on the run, searching for his own personal freedom.

"This used to be one helluva good country"

Seeing as this blog is named after the Carole King/Gerry Goffin penned Byrds song, "Wasn't born to follow", this blog will start off with a look at the film it's featured prominently, Easy Rider.

The film was sold with the tag "a man went looking for America, and couldn't find it anywhere" and is essentially a look at the unattainable American Dream, seeing through the eyes of the searching for answers Wyatt (played by Peter Fonda), and the paranoid, rambling Billy (played by Dennis Hopper). They've made a killing selling coke to a wealthy man, played by legendary "Wall of Sound" creator Phil Spector in what presumably is meant to be himself. Having scored the deal, they hit the open road, with Wyatt glancing at his watch then throwing it to the floor, where time is not an issue anymore.

The film, directed by Dennis Hopper, is heavy on symbolism that often seems too forced. When their bikes are in need of a tyre change, our favourite hippy duo seek refuge at a ranch. What follows is a scene where the changing of a tyre is juxtaposed against the image of the tyre change. The image suggests that the life of the open road, exploring the vast countryside, is the new cowboy way. This is reinforced when the duo, with the stranger on the highway, ride through Monument Valley, often the setting of many a classic John Ford film, as if to say "this is the new way of individualism".

And herein lies the point of the film. While people look at Wyatt and Billy as the quintessential hippies, on a hedonist trip of drugs and whorehouses, the ultimate point Hopper and co-writers Peter Fonda and Terry Southern are striving for is that with the advent of capitalism conformity, the role of the individual, the classic western character, is being lost. The character of George Hanson, memorably played by Jack Nicholson, relays the core message in a campfire scene with Billy. The trio have been ridiculed by local rednecks in a cafe, while at the same time sexualised by the women there. Billy, as ever, is angry this his long hair has caused such narrow mindness. George reminds him, it's not the hair that is the problem, but what it represents. Here, in square 1969, it represents the freedom to do what you feel, be an individual, and not be bought and sold in the marketplace, harking back to frontier ideals. George's speech on freedom still rings true today: if you dare to be different, it will scare those with power who liked to talk about freedom.

The film also, in my view a fact that is forgotten, takes a critical view of aspects of the hippy lifestyle. While setting off after departing the ranch, the duo pick up the stranger on the highway (to give him his credited name), who takes them to a commune he lives on. The commune is seeing some tough times, with their transport barely working and a danger the crops won't grow because the land is dry. The commune hosts a a number of wealthy dropouts, who appear to be ill at ease as the harsh realities of farm life. This offers a critical look at the commune lifestyle, overrun by people who have no clue as to what to do apart from drop out. Billy seems to want some of the free love that appears to be on offer in the commune, but his advances are not welcome, perhaps as the commune has grown tired of outsides. Later, the duo are taken to a lake not far from the commune to the strains of "Wasn't born to follow", one of the only times in the film Wyatt seems at easy with his surroundings. Wyatt is the more thoughtful of the two and seeks a spiritual awakening, who once states "I never wanted to be anyone else". Wyatt's ultimate quest is freedom, which are cruelly taken away from him in the films climax. Yet before this, Wyatt comes to believe that his and Billy's search of the American Dream is unfulfilled. Despite their financial prosperity, their bad trip in a Mardi Gras whorehouse and George's death at the hands of the rednecks leads his to conclude that their journey was a failure with the lines "We blew it".



Hopper, Fonda and Southern however declare in the films ending that because of the dying, they have actually achieved their dream of freedom. As stated in Roger McGuinn's "Ballad of Easy Rider that plays over the smoking bicycle,

"All he wanted was to be free, and that's the way it turned out to be..."