Review of Two-Lane Blacktop (1971) by Richard S — 16 Jun 2008

Hellman's "Two Lane Blacktop" is the sort of film that begs to be revisited a year or so after a first viewing. Only then will I be able to decide whether it's an existential masterpiece, intriguing experiment, or (and this is the most likely) something in between.

A flop upon it's initial release in the early 70s, this was billed as "the new Easy Rider". It's based on this reputation that I avoided it for the first six months of its life on region 1 DVD. To my great relief, this isn't a nostalgic chatterfest like Hopper's film. It's quieter and more disillusioned. In fact, the characters are either as terse any anyone in Melville or they recite meaningless drivel about their cars. Hellman makes no attempt to understand this world. He simply presents it as he and the screenwriter saw it- a group of detached men who have nothing to live for other than their fixation on their automobiles. Human interaction means nothing. There's no goal or ultimate destination. This isn't the freedom of Hopper's open road. It's endless drudgery and repetition.

Shot with mostly natural light with stars who were selected for their presence rather than their acting ability, this is just the sort of film that I can stand behind. Linklater wisely observes that Taylor could very well have stepped out of Bresson. It's these ideas that fascinate me enough to consider revisiting it in the not too distant future. This is a case of a film that I expected to loathe (and watched out of some sense of obligation of seeing how it fit into the 70s American canon), but ended up, if not really enjoying, finding ideas that I can really cling to. It's in my head now, so only time will tell if it stays there.