movie: The Trip

I recently found something interesting on Netflix and thought I'd post a little write-up on it. It's actually 2 movies from the same time period and several people were involved in both. The second of the 2 is called Psych-Out. I wouldn't recommend it as I found it more sensationalistic, some bad dialogue and acting, etc. Still a little interesting for the set locations and nostalgia.

The Trip however, seemed pretty valid in a number of ways. Briefly, it tells the story of a guy in the movie industry that is interested in taking his first trip. A friend is in the scene and gets some and becomes his guide. The movie follows his experience, both from his perspective and from ours, watching from the outside.

While there were aspects that were obviously wildly inaccurate, (a brief scene where the tripper "sees" his guide as slumped over in a chair dead, I found many of the visuals portrayed, the feelings and thought processes, the details that a trip entails, to be pretty right on from my memories of trips many years ago.

Considering the context of movies in the 60's, the hysteria surrounding hippies and drug use, the state of cinematography, I was pleasantly surprised with this little gem. There is a 'making of' feature on the dvd with commentaries from some of the people involved. It was a Roger Corman flick, and I was surprised to learn that he did some acid and talked about it. This wasn't just some film made by someone that knew nothing about it. There is a tinge of anti-drug message, apparently in order to get a deal with distribution. The beginning starts with a warning for example.

It's also fun to see a young Peter Fonda, a young and beautiful Susan Stasberg. And the kicker... the screenplay by none other than Jack Nicholson. (who also stars in the lesser Psych-Out)

I'd have to say The Trip is the best drug movie I've ever seen, even if it's easy to nit-pick individual aspects. Check it out if you have Netflix as it's probably hard to find anywhere else.

 

I've watched the Trip just now, based on your recommendation. While it's quite fun, psychedelic aspect is very shallow in my opinion, and anti-drug message stood out like a sore thumb. Basically it should've been called Bad Trip, because 80% of the movie main character is being chased and tormented by his paranoid visions and Nazgul riders, who turn out to be his fantasy women in the end. But I must say, it was made in the Sixties and FOR the Sixties. It feels very dated. Spiritual aspects of psychedelic experience are untouched and left out. And I believe that psychedelic exploration has moved on quite a bit since the sixties. That being said, it's a nice little movie and I'm glad I've watched it.

 

i didnt like it., seen it in the 80s.. not to be seen again..

 

can you watch it instantly? i might check it out

 

Wow... interesting we had such different takes on it.

In a way, I can see how one might say the psychedelic aspect is shallow. It could have been portrayed better. I disagree with the bad trip part though... for instance the part where he's coming up and holding the orange and seeing the life coming from it. One part I felt was a good scene, (for me anyhow) was when he was examining his career in the 'fun house'. (im not sure what else to call it) It was like his inner self was talking to his conscious self, critiquing his line of work.
It is very dated. Which can work for or against the movie. I usually dont like very dated movies but I was able to set that aside in this one. As for the anti drug message, it appears it was very necessary in order to get a distribution deal for the film. Corman essentially said no one would touch it if it had a pro drug message. But considering his comments on his lsd experiences, and knowing the history of Nicholson, Fonda and Hopper, those cats wouldn't have made a truly anti drug propaganda movie. Between them they took alot of doses.

Good you were glad you watched it.

 

It doesn't look available for streaming, only dvd. I just saw that there is another double feature dvd, one with a movie called Gasssss. If you get the disk, I'd recommend that one over the one with Psych-out.

 

I agree about first minutes of his trip, it was one of the couple good scenes in the movie. When he says 'I've never seen it before' really resonated with me. But instead of concentrating on those positive and enlightening aspects, movie starts introducing more paranoia.

 

I tried to watch it a few months ago and I turned it off after 10 minutes. I have no interest in trying to watch it again.

 

^^that's how i felt about enter the void, bro. actually watched about 30 minutes though..

 

I don't see how anyone wouldn't be able to get into Enter The Void. If someone told me to pick out the one movie that I considered to be the most intensely artistic and beautiful movie ever produced, I would choose Enter The Void, without hesitation.

 

Agreed. Enter The Void is one of those rare truly artistic movies. It's long, uneasy to watch, but I couldn't take my eyes off it.

Another movie worth watching, if only for glorious trip animations, is Blueberry (or 'Renegade' in US), where a cowboy (Vincent Casell!) seeking redemption for his evil act takes ayahuasca in a shamanic ceremony. 10 minute long trip is a real eye-candy, very well done.

 

I couldn't take my eyes off of Enter The Void either. It's a very disturbing movie, but also very beautiful and even, dare I say, heartwarming; especially the ending. It's all very chaotic, but it comes together nicely in the end.

I've never heard of Blueberry/Renegade, but I just looked it up and it sounds very interesting. I may have to watch it, within the next couple of days. Thanks

 

According to wikipedia: "Jan Kounen, the director of the film, drew upon his extensive first hand knowledge of ayahuasca rituals in order to design the visuals for these sequences, Kounen having undergone the ceremony at least a hundred times with Shipibo language speakers in Peru."

There's also full length documentary about ayahuasca on Google videos by Jan Kounen: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6808151452846172277#

 

maybe i'll give enter the void another shot. i tried watching it after coming down from 2cb with a headache and wanting to go to sleep. also, i was a bit worried that my girl might wake up and see the weird naked part and wonder what the heck i'm watching...
it just didn't seem to be going anywhere or have a point. but i guess i didn't give it a fair chance

sorry to derail

 

Naw, no derailment at all. I'd not heard of either of these and I like the commentary. Thanks for some suggestions.
Enter the void in particular looks very interesting, if nothing else from the artistic point.

 

Here's a streaming link for Enter The Void. There are some different versions where lots of the movie was cut out, but this is the full version:
http://www.moviewatch.in/external.p...NkUWYg&domain=bWlsbGVkcml2ZS5jb20=&loggedin=0

 

BTW.....much of the movie represents the various bardos, as outlined in the Tibetan Book Of The Dead, so if you read a little bit about the six bardos, then you'll understand the movie a bit better:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bardo

 

also, voyage, Enter the Void can be watched instantly on netflix. i watched (part of) it on my Wii

 

Ya I saw that. On the list for this weekend. Thx!

 

I'm watching Enter The Void at the moment, I kind of want to see The Trip as well but I don't have Netflix. I like what Easy Rider did with LSD in the acid scene.