Hair (film)

Hair is a 1979 film based on the 1968 Broadway musical of the same name about a Vietnam war draftee who meets and befriends a tribe of long-haired hippies on his way to the army induction center. The hippies introduce him to their environment of marijuana, acid, messed up relationships and wedding songs.

The film was directed by Miloš Forman, who was nominated for a César Award for his work on the film. Cast members include Treat Williams, John Savage, Beverly D'Angelo, Don Dacus of the rock band Chicago, Annie Golden, Dorsey Wright, Nell Carter, Ellen Foley as well as Johnny Maestro, Jim Rosica and Fred Ferrara of the rock group The Brooklyn Bridge. Dance scenes were choreographed by Twyla Tharp and performed by the Twyla Tharp Dance Foundation.

Plot
Meeting the hippie tribe

The movie begins in a small town in Oklahoma, where Claude Bukowski (John Savage) is boarding a bus for New York City, to be drafted to fight in the Vietnam War. Once he arrives in New York, he encounters a tribe of hippies in Central Park ("The Tribe"), including George Berger (Treat Williams), the leader; Jeannie Ryan, a young pregnant girl; Lafayette "Hud" Johnson (Dorsey Wright), a black man with a large afro; and Woof Daschund (Don Dacus), who has long blond hair. The four befriend Claude and share some marijuana.

The next morning, Berger suggests that the tribe crash a debutante ball to meet the beautiful and wealthy young debutante Sheila, whom they had encountered earlier in Central Park while she was riding horseback. The five hippies crash the elegant dinner, and Berger dances on the dinner table singing "I Got Life" before he is arrested. The tribe do not have bail money, so they are jailed, during which time there is rendition of the title song "Hair" during a prison riot. Later, Berger goes home to ask his father for bail money which he says he will give him if Berger cuts his hair. Berger refuses and his mother then gives him the money without his father's knowledge.

Once out of jail, the tribe goes to Central Park with thousands of protesting hippies. Claude tries LSD, and experiences bizarre hallucinations of marrying Sheila, watching her fly around the inside of the church while pregnant, and then the wedding being consumed by fire. The Tribe finds Claude alone at night, still high from LSD, and they all go swimming naked in the reservoir. The Tribe plays a prank by taking Claude and Sheila's clothes, so Sheila has to hail a cab while she is naked. However, the tribe becomes upset at Claude when he indicates that he plans to go to the Army the next morning to begin boot camp.

Army boot camp and Vietnam Claude is sent to a base in Nevada for his boot camp training, and he writes to Sheila. Berger suggests that they should all go visit him in Nevada. Meanwhile, Hud's ex-fiancee (Cheryl Barnes) finds Hud and tries to find out if Jeannie is carrying his child. She doesn't want to go home without him, grieving that he does not love her and his child ("Easy to be Hard"). Hud agrees to take her along with the rest of the Tribe to Nevada by stealing a Lincoln town car.

Once they arrive at the army base gate, the guard won't let them in, so Sheila seduces a soldier, and The Tribe takes his uniform and his car. Berger cuts his hair, puts on the uniform and drives the soldier's car through the gate. Berger takes Claude's place in boot camp, and they exchange uniforms. Berger then goes into the barracks in Claude's place, while Claude drives off to meet the rest of The Tribe. While Claude is gone, his unit, including Berger, has been shipped out to Vietnam. Berger dies in Vietnam, as established by the final scene of the movie, when The Tribe (with Claude) gathers around Berger's grave in Arlington Cemetery, a military cemetery near Washington D.C. Then a huge group of hippies gather around demonstrating and singing the final song, "Let the Sunshine In".

Changes from original version
A few verses from "Manchester, England" and a small portion of "Walking In Space" have been removed. The film omits the songs "The Bed", "Dead End", "Oh Great God of Power", "I Believe in Love", "Going Down", "Abie Baby," "Air," "My Conviction," "Frank Mills," and "What a Piece of Work is Man" from the musical. The latter five songs were originally recorded for the film, but were eventually cut, as they slowed the pace of the film. They can be found on the motion picture soundtrack album, although they were omitted on the 1990 reissue. While the songs "Don't Put It Down" and "Somebody To Love" are not specifically sung by characters in the movie, they are both used as background or instrumental music for scenes at the army base. There are several other differences from songs in the movie and as they appear on the soundtrack, mainly in omitted verses and different orchestrations.

The plot is changed in the film. Many of the songs have been shortened, sped up, rearranged, or assigned to different characters to allow for the differences in plot. Opinions are mixed as to whether the film was an improvement over the stage show.

In the original stage show, the character Claude Bukowski is a hippie who eventually joins the army and is sent to Vietnam. In the movie, the plot was changed so that Claude comes to New York City from Oklahoma after he is drafted and befriends a group of hippies before being sent to Army training camp. They introduce him to their psychedelically-inspired style of living, and eventually drive to Nevada to visit him at a training camp. In the play, Claude is from "dirty, mucky, polluted Flushing," in Queens, but wishes he was from "Manchester, England," which explained why he sang a song with that title. The song remains in the film, though with a joking introduction by Berger - "he just got off the boat" - to make it apply to Oklahoma native Claude.

In the musical, Shelia Franklin is a hippie who falls in love with Berger, not Claude. Jeannie was "knocked up" by a speed freak, not by either Woof or Hudd.

Arguably, the most extreme change is Berger's death in the finale. In the original play it is Claude who dies in Vietnam.

Hair


Hair Part 2


Hair Part 3


Hair Part 4


Hair Part 5


Hair Part 6


Hair Part 7
Hair Part 8
Hair Part 9
Hair Part 10
Hair Part 11
Hair Part 12
Hair Part 13
Hair Part 14