For today's Hippie Hottie film we are going to take a look at 1969. No, not the year. I am actually bending the rules a little bit as we go all the way to the 80s to look at a movie about the hippie counterculture. It's time to talk about 1988's 1969 by Ernest Thompson.
Two young men, Ralph and Scott played by Robert Downey Jr. and Kieffer Sunderland, leave college on Easter break to hitchhike home. They want to surprise their families, but Scott's brother is also about to ship off to Vietnam so he wants to say goodbye to him. The brothers argue about being afraid to go to war with Scott, who is not shipping off to war, accusing his brother of being scared to go to Vietnam. Um...yeah? Scott, chill. You are literally not fighting in the war, so don't throw stones!
Anyway, Ralph flunks out of college, so the boys decide to spend the summer living out of a van and diving into countercultural freedom. After the boys have a ton of fun on the road, they go back to their hometown again and learn that Scott's brother is now MIA. The brothers want to learn more information, so they break into the draft board office to steal some files, but they get caught and Ralph gets arrested.
Scott, who accused his soldier brother of being too scared to go to war, is now scared to be arrested. Go figure! He wants to run away to Canada to avoid the draft. He even invites Ralph's younger hippie sister to come with him. They travel in a van and end up falling for each other, making love on the road. The sister is played by Winona Ryder, but she does not go nude. Kara Zielke does!
Obviously, Ralph finds out about this and is pissed and disgusted that his bestie got busy with his sister. Scott and Ralph's sister are basically like 'whatever!' and they continue to the Canadian border. However, they change their minds and go back down to their hometown - again! That is when they learn that Scott's brother actually died in battle. He is upset enough that he leads a march in the middle of the funeral and before we know it Ralph is released from jail. They all go down to D.C. to protest the Vietnam War which is where the film ends.
Obviously, this movie gives us a really stirring view of the effect of the Vietnam War on young men in America at the time. The movie is pretty centrally focused on that while also showing us two young, bright-eyed boys who just want to have a good time. That is really difficult for them to do with the war looming. The counterculture provides some relief for the two of them who get in touch with their wild sides when they visit some hippie nudists. Hey, who wouldn't get in touch with their wild sides when hanging out with these sexy women:
1969 is not a classic, per se. It was critically panned, called "an aimless drama" by the Washington Post. I sort of agree with that review, but I also think that timing plays a factor here. This film was made almost 20 years after the time period in which it is set. It is possible that people who lived through this era did not feel that the movie really captured the time period. Critics calling it "aimless" speaks to that. Too much time has passed with too many criticisms of the effects that the counterculture and the Vietnam War had on people who lived through it.
When a film is made nearly 20 years after, it should take a harder stance on something. 1969 doesn't really give that, but it does give one hot nude scene that has a lot to offer. For that, I am grateful.
