FLASHING
ON THE SIXTIES
A
TRIBAL DOCUMENT (DVD)
Leonard
Maltin on Video
A
time trip back to the decade of peace and love -- the Sixties. I'm Leonard
Maltin on Video. The Sixties was a sharply-defined decade, and the fallout
from that period is still being felt in this country. That's what makes
Lisa Law's documentary Flashing On The Sixties so relevant. This time-trip
to the era of peace and love is no mere nostalgia trip. Through interviews,
home movies, photographs, and songs it traces the source of a movement
-- and the goals of a disaffected generation searching for meaning and
purpose in their lives. Interviewees include well-known figures like
Timothy Leary and Dennis Hopper, as well as lesser-known leaders and
participants in this extraordinary period of American history. Flashing
On The Sixties many not be the definitive statement on those times--but
it's eloquent, entertaining, even moving. If you missed this hour-long
show on cable TV, it's worth catching on video.
BILLBOARD
MAGAZINE
"This
is one for the time capsule. Directed by Lisa Law, and based on her
photographic book of the same name, "Flashing On The '60s"
is an excellent, refreshing look back at the decade of love, peace,
and social change .....this program serves up fond memories to those
who lived these events and provides a valuable history lesson to those
too young to remember."
Malcolm
MacKinnon High Times, 1994
It's
about time we stop talking about the '60s as if the decade were the
dawn of cremation. I think we've all just about heard enough reverential,
fluttery homage to a time that continues to recreate itself in our nation's
imagination.
That's
why Flashing On The Sixties (Flashback Productions; Lisa Law, dir.)
a documentary by Lisa Law, is such a welcome shot of fresh air. Law,
a full-time activist whose photos have been published widely, was there
and she had the footage to prove it.
From
Haight Ashbury to the commune scene, Law recorded the events around
her with a clear eye. Interweaving previously unreleased eight-millimeter
footage of Woodstock and the celebrations with black and white stills
from her own considerable stock, Law sheds some knowing light on a puzzling
period in recent American history.
The
film's best moments are when Peter Coyote is on screen. The always articulate
former-San Francisco-Digger-turned-movie-star speaks about the spiritual
aspects of hippie life without sounding like a yinned-out-acid-head.
His comments on the artificial power derived from cocaine use are also
startlingly direct.
Coyote
is joined by Easy Rider co-stars Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda, as well
as Wavy Gravy, Ram Dass and many others who shared in the'60 explosion.
Law
doesn't let you forget for a second that the Vietnam War fueled the
decade. In the film's quirkiest departure, Law finds time to profile
a homeless Vietnam bet. The Vietnam War may have been a catalyst for
great change, but it also produced casualties. Some of them are still
with us, and Law allows us to hear their voice.
Retrospectives,
documentaries, remembrances and other recorded blather have elbowed
their way into defining the '60s Flashing on the '60s however, is a
cogent appraisal of a time we secretly miss. Some of that Hippie idealism
lingers on long after pressing the eject button.
Collected
here are not only philosophical musings, but some great personal stories
such as Dennis Hopper's telling of Dylan's writing "The Ballad
of Easy Rider," or Viet Nam vet Craig Preston's account of his
homeless life in Golden Gate Park. The book not only contains a gala
of famous names (Leary, Fonda, Ginsberg, Taj Mahal), but also chronicles
many of the behind-the-scenes characters and movers-and-shakers from
the flower-power years (Mountain Girl, Jahanara Romney, Viola Spolin,
Ron Thelin, Rick Klein) who have equally integral stories to tell. And
while some of the interviews are more engaging and lucid than others,
there is remarkable agreement amongst the reunion members gathered between
the 285 pages of this book. To this elite crew, the '60s were "a
time when we were living more consciously and closer to the earth."
As might be expected in such a gathering of unorthodox characters, there
are epiphanal moments, such as Timothy Leary's impassioned eulogy to
Abbie Hoffman, Peter Coyote's well-spoken historical overview of the
implications of the '60s on present day global culture, complete with
his conclusion off "we knew we were having an effect!" and
Allen Ginsberg's and Oscar Janiger's intelligent insights into the metaphysics
of it all all. It is fitting that Law ends her book by interviewing
her own daughter, Pilar, a clear-headed young adult who provides the
bridge for the '60s into the '90s. Pilar's response to her mother's
question about drugs in the '90s- "the drug of the '90s is clean
air!" -offers tangible evidence that the concerns and values of
the '60s are being passed down to the next generation who have invented
their own "freak flag" and are raising it up the pole of the
new millennium.
In
the end, nobody said it better than Abbie Hoffman. His last words to
a public audience before his perplexing and paradoxical suicide in 1989
are still the best last word to the revisionists and exists as a refrain
for the song that was the 60s: "Yes, we were young, we were silly,
we made mistakes, we were obstinate, we were na•ve, but we were
right!"
Telluride
Times-Journal
"...a
first rate look at how a new consciousness, an ethos that celebrated
both the environment and an inner spirituality, evolved during the Sixties."
Dennis Hopper
"I
loved the film. Flashing On The Sixties is the only film I've seen that
conveys the spirituality and unity of the alternative lifestyles of
the sixties as an extended family unit."
Peter Fonda
"It
is a wonderful diary of the times" "It is sweat and powerful"
.. "A warm informing and historic diary of the moment ....shows
how those of us from that wondrous era have come through the many years
with the philosophy of healing our planet. Our home."
Michelle Phillips
"It
is a Work of Art." Carl Gottlieb: " Flashing On The Sixties
marries nostalgia to contemporary events in a special and accessible
way. Not only is it relevant, it's fun."
Peter Coyote
"Lisa
was there. She had her eyes open. She never copped out and she got a
real good piece of it on the film."
High
Times Magazine
"....a
cogent appraisal of a time we secretly miss"
