shampoo (1975) dir. hal ashby
STRUCTURE UP
Warren Beatty wields his Blow dryer like a gun, never far, riding round 1970s era Los Angeles on iron horseback saving damsels in distress one head at time: the big and small one. A true Gyallis, Beatty as our protagonist, George Roundy, is Hal Ashby’s modern (at the time) day cowboy. He’s Hank Moody adjacent, (even Sasha Bingam’d it wit a young Princess Leia) LAs coolguy chick magnet.
On paper, this one seems shallow: A man whore fucking in and out of his clients beds, juggling women like playthings. But underneath the veil of the wannabe womanizers dream there’s the meat and potatoes: the unique weight of a lost loneliness. This is set up by a slightly different relationship with his rotating lovers: theres a genuine care thats displayed through his trade. The vessel of hairdressing grants the audience a glimpse of how he sees his concubines: works of art, muses, sources of awe. And each of them gravitate to that true recognition. If you allow this outlook (that Hal wants you to believe) to wash over you the objectification isnt your run of the mill “weve seen this movie before” lust but instead rooted in earnest emotion. And even if you are skeptical you can land on George tricking himself into believing he’s more than a panty drop prowler, but a passenger to the sexual whims of the heads he serves.
The heart raises the stakes along with the lack of direction in his professional life. He’s bumbling bed to bed whilst also trying to come up with the funds for his ever evasive dream: owning his own hair-shop. The bank laughs at his lack of credit, his manager is always up his ass justifiably (hes the star of the shop but also because of his status a real Slouch!) and his potential investor, Lester Karpf played by Jack Warden, is entangled with two of his bedmates: one, his wife and the other, his mistress. A true Hot Mess in every sense of the words.
All of his lovers, however, have got it made or are on their way: Felicia Karpf played by Lee Grant is a put up housewife living the fat life with all the spoils, Jackie Shawn played by Julie Christie found a ticket in Lester Karpf as his mistress and Jill Haynes played by Goldie Hawn, his actual “girlfriend” (whatever weight that holds for him), is an actress getting her first big role in Egypt, an object of the morally hypocritical director(Johnny Pope)’s affection. Being a lover is all George has as he watches himself being passed up in real time, a mere pit stop and bit of fun along their way to a life of security to a partner who is “for real”. Beatty’s George is stuck in a self made nightmare loop of passion and lack of purpose and Beatty plays into that perfectly always with a semblance of confusion like hes being tossed around by a high tide only grasping the reigns of his life with the words “want me to do your hair?”.
He maintains that he has the freedom of doing what he wants throughout the film but if true, hes wasted it on the wilds of the present. The frightening future lies far until not, now in his face as his lady friends cross paths in a chaotic culmination (including one of the most creative uses of lighting ive commited to memory, a slowly opening refrigerator door), ending in him losing his lover, investor and any semblance of dreams of a new life all in one fell swoop. He tries to fight for a life with Jackie who he, on a whim and grasping for straws, decides is who he truly loves (Hal gives us an actual car chase for her heart). But this isnt a happy ending for him, his bed is made, while she rides off into the sun with her “serious” man and he watches from a far as lost as ever, his ladies gone and his life still in shambles. Goldie states it plain “Youre always moving but youre never going everywhere”.
Where substance and style meet harmoniously. Has the Cool, all of it!
5/5 escape
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