adios man
Dennis Hopper died today. I don't know that I can say he was one of my favorite
actors, but his appearances in movies were always memorable, and his movies have been some of the ones that most affected me.
I think the first movie in which I really noticed Dennis Hopper was Rumble Fish, which was based upon an S.E. Hinton novella. He
played an alcoholic father, both damaged and damaging to his sons. Hinton's stories are always hard-hitting with me, and this story is one of the first times I thought about the fate of characters who are too smart, or too perceptive, or see too clearly.
Of course, the first big time Hopper movie that made an impact was Apocalypse Now. I saw this movie on cable late one night when I was all alone at my parents' house in Kenai. I'd been to a year or two of college at that point and was really struggling with who I was and where/what I wanted to become. The movie is so powerful in so many ways, but Hopper's photojournalist character the "interpreter" for when Marlowe arrives at Kurtz's stronghold is so amazing. First of all, the fact that he's a photojournalist means he should be seeing and recording truth. A picture is worth a thousand words, right? But his convoluted speech, which reminds me of the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland in it's hidden truths, confuses truth and reality with insanity. His intelligence is apparent, and he's aware of the seeming dissonance and craziness but somehow removed from it, at least for a time, though his admiration of the meglomaniac Kurtz is clear.
And then, of course, there's Easy Rider. Hopper's character, especially as a contrast to Peter Fonda's Captain American and Jack Nicholson's George Harrison. Hopper's casual flip of the bird at the end of the film, and the resulting redneck shotgun blast to the gut and subsequent murder of his friend made me suspicious of green pick up trucks for years.
One of my all time favorite Hopper movies was called Flashback, with Kiefer
Sutherland. Hopper plays a former hippie, accused of various crimes including unhooking a train car with Richard Nixon on it from the rest of the train. I think what I like about it is that Hopper's almost satirizing his sterotyped, hippie druggie characters. It's a fun verson of Easy Rider's Billy, if that doesn't sound too paradoxical. An older, wiser, and more jaded version of the idealist who saw too clearly or not clearly enough, depending on the movie.
Hopper's character has some memorable lines in Apocalypse Now. These seem fitting upon his death.
"I mean, what are they gonna say about him, when he's gone, huh? What are they gonna say? Are they gonna say "he was a kind man"? "He was a wise man"? "He had plans"; "He had wisdom"? Bullshit, man! What are they gonna do when he's gone? What are they gonna turn to me? I mean come on, look at me! Am I gonna set them straight, NO...You"
"This is the way the fucking world ends. Look at this fucking shit we're in man. Not with a bang, but with a whimper. And with a whimper, I'm fucking splitting, Jack."
actors, but his appearances in movies were always memorable, and his movies have been some of the ones that most affected me.I think the first movie in which I really noticed Dennis Hopper was Rumble Fish, which was based upon an S.E. Hinton novella. He
played an alcoholic father, both damaged and damaging to his sons. Hinton's stories are always hard-hitting with me, and this story is one of the first times I thought about the fate of characters who are too smart, or too perceptive, or see too clearly.
Of course, the first big time Hopper movie that made an impact was Apocalypse Now. I saw this movie on cable late one night when I was all alone at my parents' house in Kenai. I'd been to a year or two of college at that point and was really struggling with who I was and where/what I wanted to become. The movie is so powerful in so many ways, but Hopper's photojournalist character the "interpreter" for when Marlowe arrives at Kurtz's stronghold is so amazing. First of all, the fact that he's a photojournalist means he should be seeing and recording truth. A picture is worth a thousand words, right? But his convoluted speech, which reminds me of the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland in it's hidden truths, confuses truth and reality with insanity. His intelligence is apparent, and he's aware of the seeming dissonance and craziness but somehow removed from it, at least for a time, though his admiration of the meglomaniac Kurtz is clear.
And then, of course, there's Easy Rider. Hopper's character, especially as a contrast to Peter Fonda's Captain American and Jack Nicholson's George Harrison. Hopper's casual flip of the bird at the end of the film, and the resulting redneck shotgun blast to the gut and subsequent murder of his friend made me suspicious of green pick up trucks for years.
One of my all time favorite Hopper movies was called Flashback, with Kiefer
Sutherland. Hopper plays a former hippie, accused of various crimes including unhooking a train car with Richard Nixon on it from the rest of the train. I think what I like about it is that Hopper's almost satirizing his sterotyped, hippie druggie characters. It's a fun verson of Easy Rider's Billy, if that doesn't sound too paradoxical. An older, wiser, and more jaded version of the idealist who saw too clearly or not clearly enough, depending on the movie.Hopper's character has some memorable lines in Apocalypse Now. These seem fitting upon his death.
"I mean, what are they gonna say about him, when he's gone, huh? What are they gonna say? Are they gonna say "he was a kind man"? "He was a wise man"? "He had plans"; "He had wisdom"? Bullshit, man! What are they gonna do when he's gone? What are they gonna turn to me? I mean come on, look at me! Am I gonna set them straight, NO...You"
"This is the way the fucking world ends. Look at this fucking shit we're in man. Not with a bang, but with a whimper. And with a whimper, I'm fucking splitting, Jack."
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