Richard Linklater's name was put on the map with the comedic indie fave SLACKER (1991), a vignette-filled day in the life of an intertwined series of (mostly) twenty-something free spirits in the college town of Austin, Texas. Along with Nirvana's landmark record "Nevermind" and Douglas Coupland's novel "Generation X," Linklater provided in this film another reference point for delineating a cultural/generational shift from baby-boomer conventions to those of a more cynical and/or irony-oriented Gen-Xer generation, a generation which grew up after the 1960s cultural shifts were in place and to be simply taken for granted.
DAZED AND CONFUSED, a fine later effort by the same director, looks back, fondly and nostalgiacly, toward the seemingly more care free days of the mid 1970s, a time in which the late 60s ethos of freeing your mind through sex, drugs, rock, and non stop rebellion had filtered out beyond the counter-culture zones and down to younger aged rebels. Linklater focuses on a group of high school partyers on the last day of the 75/76 school year. The mood is carefree and upbeat, in spite of some hazing and bullying of the incoming freshmen by the seniors. Plans for a big blowout get made. Eventually, all of the kids - cool and uncool - get together in one big beer and pot filled gathering. In the course of events, we get to know the mostly likeable charecters and feel as though we are hanging out with them.
Linklater and cast do a remarkable job of capturing the details and nuances of a now gone era, and of conveying the joyous moments of being young and having a great time simply hanging out with other kids. They show kids having fun not doing what they are told by the adults. They present the rituals of potsmoking in an honest way, i.e, as a relatively benign recreational (rather than as a gateway) drug, the use of which was, and is, widespread among American adolescents. Having grown up in the same era (graduating from grammar school in 75 and high school in 79), this movie made me feel very nostalgiac about the era it depicts. It made me want to go dig out "Toys in the Attic" and my other 70s hard rock LPs from out of the storage and give them a spin.
DAZED AND CONFUSED, a fine later effort by the same director, looks back, fondly and nostalgiacly, toward the seemingly more care free days of the mid 1970s, a time in which the late 60s ethos of freeing your mind through sex, drugs, rock, and non stop rebellion had filtered out beyond the counter-culture zones and down to younger aged rebels. Linklater focuses on a group of high school partyers on the last day of the 75/76 school year. The mood is carefree and upbeat, in spite of some hazing and bullying of the incoming freshmen by the seniors. Plans for a big blowout get made. Eventually, all of the kids - cool and uncool - get together in one big beer and pot filled gathering. In the course of events, we get to know the mostly likeable charecters and feel as though we are hanging out with them.
Linklater and cast do a remarkable job of capturing the details and nuances of a now gone era, and of conveying the joyous moments of being young and having a great time simply hanging out with other kids. They show kids having fun not doing what they are told by the adults. They present the rituals of potsmoking in an honest way, i.e, as a relatively benign recreational (rather than as a gateway) drug, the use of which was, and is, widespread among American adolescents. Having grown up in the same era (graduating from grammar school in 75 and high school in 79), this movie made me feel very nostalgiac about the era it depicts. It made me want to go dig out "Toys in the Attic" and my other 70s hard rock LPs from out of the storage and give them a spin.