Interesting time-capsule of Los Angeles in the mid-60s; a
cross-section of various scenes, sub-cultures, lifestyles and individuals,
including artists, actors, beauticians, politicians, occultists, surfers, LSD
enthusiasts, musicians, activists, eccentric millionaires, strippers,
socialites and even regular citizens.
What comes out of the film most strongly is the tentative awareness and
respect all these people had for each other to that point. There was certainly a phenomenon of cultural
awareness in the 60s – (as evidenced by the creation of this film) – that is
utterly foreign to us today. There is
conflict and hostility in the film, but it’s brooding, and you can almost sense
that we are only a couple years away from Manson and the backlash of Nixon’s
silent majority. It’s lack of any
structure will annoy many viewers and delight others; (I felt it was a bit too
long considering there was nothing really to hook onto). It was banned or censored in parts of the
world for its non-judgmental treatment of various controversial subjects like
drag queens, drugs, and child nudity. It
is perhaps most notorious for including in its cast a future member of the
Manson family, Bobby Beausoleil as ‘Cupid,’ and a future victim, hairstylist
Jay Sebring. (Sebring was not killed by
Beausoleil, however, as the latter was already in jail for murdering someone
else at the time Sebring was attacked with four others at Sharon Tate’s house.)
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