The Monkees movie Head was filmed in 1967, at the end of their television
show's run, attempting to be the end-all be-all of Monkees expression and entertainment.
Head was to shed light on many of the public's prejudices
of the Monkees, attract an older and more creative target audience for the Monkees,
open the minds of viewers and be a true artistic masterpiece.
Overall, the Monkees wanted to
be creative, be expressive, and just say everything they wanted to say
but couldn't before. Unfortuantely, Head did not truly
execute most of these things.
The Monkees' movie was a box office failure, and either not seen or completely missunderstood
by all of their audiences.
But despite all that, Head is a remarkably interesting, entertaining
movie, with beautiful music, a true cult following,
and surprisingly good reviews from certain film
critics.
Part of the reason Head was such a box office failure
was timing and target audiences.
The movie extremely radical for its time,
attempting a trendy, dream-like stream of consciousness approach where there
was no literal plot, no direct linearity from scene to scene, and the scenes
themselves were clips of ideas from the people creating it.
All the scenes are perhaps meant to be symbolic for something,
or simply to open your mind.
The scenes
were raw and unexpected, sometimes just plain weird and offensive.
This is something other film makers were also dappling with at the time,
but it was very risky and experimentive. The Beatles' movie made
at the same time, Magical Mystery Tour, used a lot of the same techniques,
and was equally unsuccessful.
Had the Monkees' movie been showed at a different time, been advertised differently,
and shown to different audiences, it's quite possible the movie
would have developed a far greater following and been a true success.
Now that more time has elapsed and technology and culture have changed so
that movies are seen and accessed differently, many people, including those
who have no interest in the Monkees otherwise, have found this movie and
appreciate for what it is.
Part of the other reason I feel this movie was unsuccessful however was because
the movie itself turned out differently than envisioned and the people involved
in making this did not see eye-to-eye enough to make a coherent peice,
no matter how psychedelic and surreal they wanted to make it.
Unfortunately, even in this movie the Monkees are lacking creative control,
as this basically becomes an experiment of *Jack Nicholson, Bob Rafelson, and Bert Schneider's*
creativity, as well as subject to the influence of mostly anyone around.
The Monkees came up with this idea stoned one weekend with Jack, Bert, Bob, and
and a tape recorder,
but at the end what came out was not very much a product of the Monkees.
As Peter said in a
2000 interview,
"We did talk at some length about what we wanted and the kinds of things we had in mind,
and I think that Jack and Bob picked up on that probably as well as you could've expected
or hoped for. But it really was their work. I mean, we didn't write that movie at
all, Jack and Bob did."
The Monkees still received writing credits for the movie, as they deserved,
but the Monkees get slapped with the blame for this movie as theirs when really
it was Jack Nicholson, Bob Rafelson, Bert Schneider's peice as well, and no one ever talks about this
when they talk about Jack Nicholson, trust me.
I'm not trying to say this is a bad movie, or something to not be proud of, because
all in all, this movie is extremely creative and inspiring, and the Monkees, Jack
Nicholson, Bob Rafelson, and Bert Schneider should be commended for taking the risk
they did, being experimentive, and not wanting to repeat a Monkees
episode for their movie. Their attempt is admirable, their outcome is beautiful
and provocative as well, despite its shortcomings.
It's hard not to look at this movie and feel truly in awe that this was ever
created. It may not make sense at times-- or ever-- but it is so mind opening.
You get a feeling of real psychological change after you have seen it.
The music for this movie is just gorgeous as well. It's absolutely gorgeous.
It's one thing I think they did one hundred percent right. I tend to not appreciate
many of the scenes in this movie, scenes which I suspect the Monkees themselves had
less influence over. However with the music, there really isn't a song or corresponding
scene with it that I don't like. The movie has amazing music that even without
the movie would have made a great album. It's somewhat different than anything the Monkees
had done before, but not so much so that its unrelatable.
In some ways, it's sort of more flashy and experimentive than their previous albums,
and unlike on albums, every song stands out on its own as if they were each
singles, there are no weak songs.
All of the songs are very different from one another, and indulge in each of the Monkee's
styles. But this indulgence was quite appropriate, because what came out
were absolutely necessary peices of music.
Michael Nesmith's "Circle Sky" is a heavy, intense, powerful song that fills you with passion,
and is so reflective of his personality. It's the perfect live "concert" song,
exhilatingly loud.
Peter Tork's "Long Title: Do I Have To Do This All Over Again?"
is unusual and unexpected, but so necessary and right, also reflective of his personality.
It awakens you to attend to repressed needs and desires
with its suprisingly beautiful psychedelia.
Micky Dolenz singing, "As We Go Along" brings you to a peaceful
haven of self-reflection and comfort, purely and simply beautiful.
Davy Jones singing, "Daddy's Song" is unexpected and funny, filled with irony and energy.
But the most beautiful is Carole King's "Porpoise Song", which I think is transcendentally
moving and wholistically powerful.
To say the movie takes many twists and turns through out it would be an understatement.
This movie is literally all over the place, and I gaurentee you have never seen another
movie quite like this. However, if there's anything to commend the Monkees and Jack, Bob,
and Bert on, it's the overall theme of the movie: that the Monkees are trying to escape
social and psychological torture to find something more pure.
That the Monkees have faced the ultimate dreams and greatest fears and want to
find their purpose in life. The beginning and ending scene of the movie [which are the same]
I think is one of the most beautiful scenes ever filmed in any movie in history,
along with one of the most beautiful songs ever written, "The Porpoise Song".
As incoherent as most of the movie seems, when you reach the ending you find
a strangely ironic understanding of why you saw everything you did inbetween
in a truly higher, surreal experience. Whether or not this is intended I would
rather not question, but ultimately this beauty is what came out. And for this reason,
I think the Monkees movie Head was in some ways one of the greatest movies
ever made.
