Two-Lane Blacktop (1971)

Film: Two-Lane Blacktop

Director: Monte Hellman

Country: USA

Released: July 1971

Runtime: 102 minutes

Genre: Road Movie

Studio: Michael Laughlin Enterprises

Influenced: Quentin Tarantino, Wim Wenders, Richard Linklater, Gus Van Sant, Nicolas Winding Refn

Based on a story by Will Corry, which was heavily rewritten by novelist Rudy Wurlitzer at the request of Monte Hellman, Two-Lane Blacktop delves into the world of drag racing and the counterculture. After the success of Easy Rider, a wealth of new road movies with musical associations and American backdrops emerged in the early 1970s, from Antonioni's Zabriskie Point (1970) with its Pink Floyd soundtrack to Two-Lane Blacktop and Vanishing Point (1971), the latter memorialised by Primal Scream's album of the same name released in 1997. The car, the music and the open road signified a new-found sense of social freedom in that era, in the same way they did for a previous generations of Americans in movies and books like Rebel Without A Cause (1955) and Kerouac's On The Road (1957). 

Hellman had already made a name for himself directing a pair of acclaimed Westerns, but was looking for a project that would both challenge cinematic norms and appeal to a mainstream audience. The director wanted to avoid the common clichés associated with road movies, and saw the potential to use the world of drag racing as a backdrop for exploring existential themes. Two-Lane Blacktop is as much about the internal journeys of the characters as it is about their physical journey across the country. The screenplay was deliberately sparse, with a minimum of dialogue and exposition; instead, Hellman decided to develop the plot with the use of visual cues, silence and character actions.

Two-Lane Blacktop follows two car-obsessed drifters, The Driver (James Taylor) and The Mechanic (The Beach Boys' Dennis Wilson), who live a seemingly aimless life, going from town to town to participate in illegal drag races with their souped-up '55 Chevy. Their existence is a monotonous cycle of races, repairs and life on the road. Their routine is disrupted when they encounter a mysterious woman (Laurie Bird) and the character known only as GTO (Warren Oates), named after his car. The woman hitchhikes a ride and becomes a silent but potent presence in the car, while GTO challenges the duo to a cross-country race. What begins as a simple competition evolves into a strange, shared journey that brings out the characters' insecurities, hopes and dreams.

Hellman's film was innovative in so many ways, not least his decision to cast two non-professional actors – musicians James Taylor and Dennis Wilson – in the lead roles. Their authentic performances, restrained and minimalistic, contrasted with the dramatic acting typical of the period. Two-Lane Blacktop also didn't rely on a central conflict to propel the plot, nor did it offer a clear resolution. Instead, the focus was on the existential journey of the characters, which was a bold and innovative move for a relatively commercial film of the time. What sticks in the memory for me is the film's evocative use of landscape, capturing the vastness and desolation of the American highway, and also the movie's haunting ending, a symbolic and memorable closing shot that has been extensively discussed and analysed.