Head (film)

Head
Movie poster for Head
Directed by	Bob Rafelson
Produced by	Bert Schneider (executive) Bob Rafelson Jack Nicholson
Written by	Bob Rafelson Jack Nicholson
Starring	The Monkees (Peter Tork, David Jones, Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith)
Music by	Ken Thorne
Cinematography	Michel Hugo
Editing by	Mike Pozen
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)	November 6, 1968
Running time	(Theatrical) 85 min (extended cut) 110 min
Language	English
Budget	$750,000 USD

Head is a 1968 psychedelic comedy-adventure major motion picture, starring TV group The Monkees (in credit order: Peter Tork, Davy Jones, Micky Dolenz and Michael Nesmith), and distributed by Columbia Pictures. It was written and produced by Bob Rafelson and Jack Nicholson, and directed by Rafelson.

During production, the working title for the film was "Changes", which was later the name of an unrelated album by the Monkees. A rough cut of the film was previewed for audiences in Los Angeles in the summer of '68 under the name of "Movee Untitled".

The film featured Victor Mature as "The Big Victor" and other cameo appearances by Nicholson, Teri Garr, Carol Doda, Annette Funicello, Frank Zappa, Sonny Liston, Timothy Carey and Ray Nitschke. Also appearing on screen in brief non-speaking parts are Dennis Hopper and Toni Basil.

Plot

The film is about the nature of free will, conceived and edited in a stream of consciousness style.

Head begins at the dedication of a bridge. As a local politician struggles with his microphone during the dedication speech, the "wacky, fun-loving" Monkees suddenly interrupt the ceremony by running through the assembled officials, to the sound of various horns and sirens, chased by old-west cowboys, policemen, women, soldiers, and other strange characters.

The rest of the film shows what happened that led up to that. The four have just all had sex with the same groupie, who tells them that they were indistinguishable in bed. Throughout the film, they make their way through a series of unrelated vignettes, each being a different type of movie (a mystery, a war movie, a western, a desert adventure, etc...). In each one, they try to deal with the fact that they're four real people in a real band that makes records for real people, but are also scripted characters in a fake TV band doing nothing except exactly what the director wants them to.

They continually try to prove to themselves that they're free and and can make any choice they want. But no matter what they try—deliberately flubbing their lines, pointing out to other characters that they're really just actors making a movie, complaining to Nicholson and Rafelson who are on the set but not part of the film, smashing through the painted paper walls, walking off the set and into the street, physically attacking other actors for no reason, and making everyone they encounter mad at them—they discover that their every word and deed was predetermined to the finest detail by the script of the movie they're in and the director directing it.

For example, they forget their worries at a party where girls are go-go dancing. But a mirror on the wall reveals the movie camera shooting directly into it, recording the scene we are watching while Rafelson sits next to the camera in the mirror.

At one point, Peter actually discovers the answer to the free will contradiction in their reality. The four frequently find themselves inside a large black box from which they cannot escape. The box represents the constraints of being fictional characters unable to make any real choices. Peter announces that he will talk about the nature of conceptual reality, then informs the others that "it doesn't matter if we're in the box". He realizes that the difference between free will and pre-scripted action is illusory. As long as you can do anything you want, 'it doesn't matter' if your choices were known in advance by some powerful entity in a higher level of context outside the universe, because the situation in which you find yourself is identical to one in which there is no outer context and you really are free.

Unfortunately, the other three pay no attention to Pete's liberating revelation, which they characterize as navel-contemplating nonsense, and soon, even Pete forgets about it.

While being chased by everyone they've encountered (and disrupted) in the various vignettes, they run onto a bridge, shoving people out of the way. We see that they weren't being "wacky" at the beginning of the film; they were desperately trying to escape being mere scripted puppets. Finally, we see that they went to the bridge to make the ultimate assertion of free will. They jump off the edge and commit suicide, falling a very long way and slamming into the water far below.

However in the final scene, we see that this, too, was scripted. The film's director hauls their soaked bodies away in a huge aquarium while the four stare blankly through the glass, motionless under the water. Laughing, he rolls the aquarium into a slot at the studio warehouse, to be taken out when he wants to use them again in another movie.

Promos

Trailers for the film summarized it as a "most extraordinary adventure, western, comedy, love story, mystery, drama, musical, documentary satire ever made (And that's putting it mildly)." There were no pictures of the Monkees on the original movie poster, just a scruffy-looking man who is not in the film.

Origins and Aftermath

The storylines and peak moments of the movie came from a weekend visit to a resort in Ojai, California, where the Monkees, Rafelson and Nicholson brainstormed into a tape recorder, reportedly with the aid of a quantity of marijuana. Jack Nicholson then took the tapes away and used them as the basis for his screenplay which (according to Rafelson) he structured while under the influence of LSD. When the band learned that they would not be allowed to direct themselves or to receive screenwriting credit (since they didn't write the actual shooting script), Dolenz, Jones, and Nesmith staged a one-day walkout, leaving Tork the only Monkee on the set the first day.^{[citation needed]} The strike ended after the first day when, to mollify the Monkees, the studio agreed to a larger percentage share of the film's net for the group. But the incident damaged^{[citation needed]} the Monkees' relationship with Rafelson and Bert Schneider, and would effectively draw a curtain on their professional relationship together.^{[citation needed]}

Filmed at Columbia Pictures/Screen Gems Studios in Culver City and at the Columbia Ranch in Burbank, as well as on various locations in California (the ribbon cutting ceremony at the Gerald Desmond Bridge, Long Beach; the "WAR!" chant cheerleader sequence at Pasadena Rose Bowl, Pasadena; the factory sequence at the Hyperion Sewage Treatment Plant, Playa Del Rey; the war sequence at Bronson Canyon; some sequences at San Francisco; the desert sequence at Palm Springs), Utah (the concert sequence at Valley Music Hall, Salt Lake City) and The Bahamas (Micky's underwater sequence) between February 15 and May 17, 1968, the movie makes fun of the band's image and the bandmembers' personae. The song Ditty Diego - War Chant was written by Jack Nicholson & is a parody of the band's original Boyce and Hart written TV theme song; its lyrics illustrate the tone of self-parody evident in parts of the film:

He, hey, we are The Monkees
You know we love to please
A manufactured image
With no philosophies.
[...]
You say we're manufactured.
To that we all agree.
So make your choice and we'll rejoice
in never being free!

Hey, hey, we are The Monkees
We've said it all before
The money's in, we're made of tin
We're here to give you more!
The money's in, we're made of tin
We're here to give you...

The final "We're here to give you..." is interrupted by a gunshot, with footage of the execution of Viet Cong operative (q.v.) Nguyen Van Lem, by Brigadier General & then Chief of National Police Nguyễn Ngọc Loan.

Elements of the movie were based in fact, including the stampede leaving the studio canteen when the Monkees break for lunch, and the "big black box"* the band repeatedly becomes trapped in. (*During the first season, veteran performers would regularly complain about the Monkees' presence – and walk out of the cafeteria whenever they came in – while members would sometimes wander off-set when they weren't needed on camera. The studio responded by building a break area on-set for the Monkees, with a meat-locker door and the walls painted black.)

A poor audience response at an August 1968 screening in Los Angeles eventually forced the producers to edit the picture down from its original 110-minute length. The 86-minute Head premiered in New York City on November 6, 1968. (The film later debuted in Hollywood on November 20.) It was not a commercial success. This was in part because Head, being an antithesis of The Monkees TV show, comprehensively demolished the group's carefully groomed public image, while the older, hipper audience they'd been reaching for rejected the Monkees' efforts out of hand.

The movie was also delayed in its release (owing partly to the use of solarisation, a then-new technique both laborious and expensive), and badly under-promoted. The sole television commercial was a confusing, minimalist close-up shot of a man's head (John Brockman); after thirty seconds, the man smiled and the name HEAD appeared on his forehead. This ad was a parody of Andy Warhol's 1963 film Blow Job, which only showed a close-up of a man's face for an extended period, supposedly receiving 'head'.

Another part of the promotional campaign was placing "Head" stickers in random places. An urban legend has circulated for years that Jack Nicholson was arrested for trying to place one of these stickers onto the helmet of a New York City police officer while he was mounting his horse.

Receiving mixed critical reviews and virtually non-existent box office receipts, the movie only succeeded in alienating the band's teenaged fanbase, while also failing to attract the more adult audience they had been striving for. Head's abysmal reception instantly halted studio plans for any further films with the Monkees. It also corresponded with a steep drop in the group's popularity as recording artists; the film's soundtrack album only peaked at #45 on the American chart, the first time any LP by the Monkees had not risen to the Top 5. The single released from the album, Porpoise Song, was the first 45 RPM record by the band to fail to crack the Top 40 as well.

The film eventually found a cult following, although even fans tend to disagree whether the film is a landmark of surreal, innovative filmmaking or simply a fascinating mess. Today, it receives mainly positive reviews from fans and film critics alike. Leonard Maltin describes it in his comprehensive Movie Guide as “delightfully plotless” and “well worth seeing,” giving the film 3 out of 4 stars, while Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a 74% rating. Head premiered on television across-the-board as a CBS Late Movie on December 30, 1974 (Michael Nesmith's 32nd birthday, and David Jones' 29th), at 11:30pm (EST); the network rebroadcast the film on July 7, 1975 (the 35th birthday of ex-Beatle Ringo Starr, who's mentioned in the movie), and once again in January 1981. Cable TV took hold in 1984, when Head began periodical showings on Cinemax. In the UK, Channel 4 also aired the movie on British TV for the first time in 1986, and then again in 1991. It was later shown regularly on Starz Cinema, and in 2007, Turner Classic Movies featured the film as part of TCM Underground, showing the film unedited and in its original aspect ratio. It was released on video and Laserdisc by RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video in September 1986 (taking advantage of the group's 20th Anniversary), again on VHS and DVD by Rhino Entertainment in January 1995, and a third time on Blu-ray and DVD in November and December 2010, respectively, by The Criterion Collection, in a box set with other films from Rafelson.

Music

Main article: Head (The Monkees album)

The Monkees during the filming of Head

While the film's music disappointed fans of the band's more traditional pop sound, it features what some critics considered to be some of the best recorded work by The Monkees, including songs contributed by Carole King and Harry Nilsson. Jack Nicholson compiled the soundtrack album, which approximates the flow of the movie and includes large portions of the dialogue. The film's incidental music was composed and conducted by Ken Thorne, who also composed and conducted the incidental music to the Beatles' second film, Help!

Andrew Sandoval, Rhino Entertainment's archivist who co-produced the company's reissue of the film, commented on the songs in a 1995 article published when the film was first reissued: "It has some of their best songs on it and, as you know, the movie's musical performances are some of the most cohesive moments in the film."

The music of the Monkees often featured rather dark subject matter beneath a superficially bright, happy sound (the song "Last Train to Clarksville", for instance, is actually about a young man who has been drafted, and is trying to arrange one last date with his girlfriend before he ships out); the music of the film takes the darkness and occasional satirical elements of the Monkees' earlier tunes and makes it far more overt, as in "Ditty Diego-War Chant", or "Daddy's Song," which has Jones singing an upbeat, Broadway-style number about a boy abandoned by his father. (Jones' own father, Harry, died just prior to Head's release.)

The soundtrack includes:

• "Porpoise Song (Theme from Head)" (Gerry Goffin / Carole King)
• "Ditty Diego - War Chant" (Rafelson/Nicholson)
• "Circle Sky" (Michael Nesmith)
• "Can You Dig It" (Peter Tork)
• "As We Go Along" (Carole King/Toni Stern)
• "Daddy's Song" (Harry Nilsson)
• "Long Title: Do I Have to Do This All Over Again?" (Peter Tork)
• Excerpts from the film, spliced in random order that is not consecutive to the movie itself

Cast

• Peter Tork as Peter
• David Jones as Davy
• Micky Dolenz as Micky
• Michael Nesmith as Mike
• Annette Funicello as Teresa/Minnie
• Timothy Carey as Lord High ‘n Low
• Logan Ramsey as Officer Faye Lapid
• Abraham Sofaer as Swami
• Vito Scotti as I. Vitteloni
• Charles Macaulay as Inspector Shrink
• T. C. Jones as Mr. & Mrs. Ace
• Charles Irving as Mayor Feedback
• William Bagdad as Black Sheik
• Percy Helton as Heraldic Messenger
• Sonny Liston as Extra
• Ray Nitschke as Private One
• Carol Doda as Sally Silicone
• Frank Zappa as The Critic
• June Fairchild as The Jumper
• Teri Garr as Testy True
• I.J. Jefferson as Lady Pleasure
• Victor Mature as The Big Victor
• Toni Basil as 'Daddy's Song' Dancer

"Reversed" cast

• Srebmahc Yrret as Oreh (Terry Chambers as Hero)
• Snrub Ekim as Gnihton (Mike Burns as Nothing)
• Drapehs Rehtse as Rehtom (Esther Shepard as Mother)
• Iksotsleh Enitsirk as Dneirf Lrig (Kristine Helstoski as Girl Friend)
• Namffoh Nhoj as Dneifxes Eht (John Hoffman as The Sexfiend)
• Revaew Adnil as Yraterces Revol (Linda Weaver as Lover Secretary)
• Yelnah Mij as Frodis (Jim Hanley as 'Frodis' - a slang term for marijuana coined by Micky Dolenz)

On screen these credits actually appeared backwards.

Crew

• Directed by Bob Rafelson
• Written and Produced by Bob Rafelson and Jack Nicholson
• Incidental Music Composed and Conducted by Ken Thorne
• Director of Photography: Michel Hugo
• Art Director: Sidney Z. Litwack
• Film Editor: Mike Pozen, A.C.E.
• Set Decorator: Ned Parsons
• Property Master: Jack Williams
• Costumes: Gene Ashman
• Special Effects: Chuck Gaspar
• Photographic Effects: Butler-Glouner
• Color by Technicolor
• Choreography: Toni Basil
• Music Coordinator: Igo Kantor
• Music Editing: Synchrofilm Inc.
• Sound Recorder: Les Fresholtz
• Sound Effects: Edit-Rite, Co.
• Re-Recording: Producers Sound Service
• Unit Production Manager: Harold Schnieder
• Special Color Effects: Burton Gershfield, Bruce Lane
• Assistant Director: Jon Andersen
• Assistant To The Producers: Marilyn Schlossberg
• Executive Producer: Bert Schneider
• A Raybert Production of A Columbia Pictures Release

Home video release history

• September 18, 1986 (VHS, Beta & Laserdisc)
• January 25, 1995 (VHS)
• June 12, 2000 (DVD)
• November 23, 2010 (Criterion Blu-Ray)
• December 14, 2010 (Criterion DVD).

External links

• Head at the Internet Movie Database
• Review of the film by a Rhino employee, from the company's website
• The HEAD page, from The Monkees Film & TV Vault
• The Monkees' Head: 'Our fans couldn't even see it' - Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 28 April 2011