‘A man went looking for America and couldn't find it anywhere”

Billboard ad for Easy Rider

A truly groundbreaking counterculture odyssey, Dennis Hopper's Easy Rider remains the definitive cinematic portrait of its era.

Having smuggled a huge amount of cocaine across the Mexican border, bikers Billy (Hopper) and Wyatt (Peter Fonda) sell their haul to their mysterious connection (Phil Spector) and hit the road in the hope of reaching New Orleans in time for the Mardi Gras festival. But after being arrested in Texas for joining a street parade without having the required permit, they meet civil rights lawyer George Hanson (a young Jack Nicholson giving a revelatory performance) who decides to join them on their journey.

From its iconic soundtrack and innovative, modish editing style, to cinematographer Haskell Wexler’s deliberate use of lens flair – not to mention the notorious history of the shoot itself (it’s amazing that the film was completed and released at all!); Easy Rider embodies the spirit of spontaneous creativity, validating its romantic counter-cultural appeal and its status as perhaps the most iconic road movie of them all. The American road trip would never be the same again…

---