"Strange Journey" A rare road movie of the 70s about two hippie hitchhikers traveling inside the United States of America and meeting on their way the most diverse representatives of the designated superpower. On the one hand, a portrait of several generations, on the other - a portrait of the States in all its diversity, on the third - a road movie about the existence of hippies.
Among the types involved is a hysterical housewife from the lower middle class with the life principle of “my hut with the edge”, a very aggressive subject with a knife (the role is played by a good actor Bruce Dern), a local aboriginal truck driver is a straightforward and understandable character. And also proletarian swingers who have nothing to lose but their laundry. In general, the whole gamma and palette in one work. Attention is drawn to the complacency of the film, the propensity for exploitation, the messiness of large and not very close plans, the editing as in old low-budget films. “Hitchhiker” (another name) was not released on carriers of modern times, but the picture goes to him – washed, cropped, indicating the absence of restoration and liquid crystal surfaces.
Meg Foster performs in the familiar role of a hippie, which she will successfully continue to develop in the subsequent cannibal film “Welcome to Arrow Beach”, it seems – “Trip” is worth watching at least because of the actress, nowhere she looked more beautiful and natural than here. Bruce Dern is one of those eccentric characters that hitchhikers in American Wonderland, so placing the performer’s face on one of the posters doesn’t reflect the reality of things.
The film is forgotten, not included in the masterpieces of cinema. I liked it – the accuracy, clarity of presentation, the fact that appealing to a specific audience (like “Easy Rider”) catches the mood of the era, is in many ways a universal work (the final monologue of the main character: the fear of saying “no” to a passing car – take responsibility for yourself and your life, in order to start living you need determination and effort), Michael Barnes (the main performer) is the same type outside of time. Stylish Bruce Dern car. Young Meg Foster. We can watch.