![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Hopper expresses reluctance, as he does not want to lose his autonomy, but the man assures him that he will be able to maintain control. During a meeting with an executive in Hollywood, the man pressures Hopper to provide stills and a synopsis to studio press agents so that they can publicize the movie. In the editing room, Hopper describes how boring editing is compared to actual production, but also how difficult it is, for he must delete many sequences he likes. Introducing his current girl friend, Hopper notes that he, like many men, is caught between wanting a virgin or a whore for a wife, but that after his recent disastrous marriage to singer Michelle Phillips, he doubts that he will be able to get close to anyone for a long time. Hopper and his friends participate in a Native American parade in town, and later, again discussing The Last Movie, Hopper complains about the pressure being put on him to have the movie ready for exhibition in April rather than at the Cannes Film Festival in May, as he had planned. Several other residents of the ranch are interviewed, including the cook, who describes Hopper and his brother as teachers. He concludes, however, that if studio publicity cannot generate an audience for The Last Movie even among university students, then it will be a very long time before he can again dream about the type of audience he thought existed. Stating that Welles's second movie, The Magnificent Ambersons, was brilliant despite its financial failure, Hopper adds that he would be happy if his film is as good as that one. An interviewer asks Hopper what will happen if The Last Movie is not received as well as Easy Rider was, and Hopper, comparing himself to Orson Welles, complains bitterly about the lack of studio support for The Last Movie, which was made for only $500,000. The director also spends many hours editing The Last Movie, from which several scenes are shown, as well as the actual process of editing it. Inside his house, Hopper jokes with a friend on the phone that thirty Playboy bunnies will be coming to the ranch, as the name of the documentary being made about him is The American Dreamer, and how can he be an American dreamer without "broads"? Hopper admits that he often thinks about sex and in one interlude, shares an erotic bath with two women. Because he believes that society has glorified both the criminal and the "outlaw," represented by the bikers in Easy Rider, he is not sure what the difference is between the bikers and those who kill them at the end of the film. Hopper discusses the wildly successful 1969 release Easy Rider, his first film as a director, and tries to explain how he considers American society full of criminals forged by societal restrictions. Hopper, who began acting as a teenager and has been a still photographer for many years, then postulates that despite the pain, an artist must be alone because loneliness inspires more profound work. One day, while walking on the ranch grounds, he explains how lonely he was as a child and how as a teenager, he had painful crushes on Leslie Caron and Elizabeth Taylor. Hopper, who owns many firearms, is frequently shown shooting guns in the desert. Following Hopper from Hollywood to his beloved ranch in Taos, NM, the filmmakers ask him questions about art, movies, sex, drugs and his philosophy of life. This documentary explores the life of motion picture actor and director Dennis Hopper in early 1971, as he edits The Last Movie, his second directorial effort. ![]()
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