Shampoo
Jul 29 - Jul 30, 2008
Hal Ashby, USA, 1975, 35mm, 109 min
This classic mid-seventies comedy is a harsh and funny time capsule stuffed full of great performances. An elegy to the wasted potential of America’s cultural revolution, SHAMPOO unfolds over the course of one 24-hour period in 1968 when Nixon was elected to office. Warren Beatty excels as an amorous hairdresser sleeping with every woman in sight, from the wife (Best Supporting Actress Oscar winner, Lee Grant) of his business advisor Jack Warden (THE VERDICT, BEING THERE) to Warden’s mistress (Julie Christie) and teenage daughter (Carrie Fisher in her first role). Screenwriters Beatty and Robert Towne provided the brave and challenging Oscar-nominated script that has stood the test of time. SHAMPOO features a great soundtrack by Paul Simon, welcome use of incidental music (including tunes by The Beatles, Jefferson Airplane, Buffalo Springfield, The Beach Boys and Jimi Hendrix) and fine camera work by Laszlo Kovacs.
"The most virtuoso example of sophisticated, kaleidoscopic farce that American moviemakers have ever come up with." -Pauline Kael