Pushing the Boundaries: Five Easy Pieces (1970) 4K Restoration
Director: Bob Rafelson Run Time: 98 min. Rating: R Release Year: 1970
Starring: Jack Nicholson, Karen Black, Lois Smith, Ralph Waite, Susan Anspach
Country: United States
Language: English
The 1970s: Pushing the Boundaries
A Film Center retrospective on the most groundbreaking films to come out of the 1970s.
See more Pushing the BoundariesAbout the film:
Although a brilliant, classical pianist from an intellectual, well-to-do family, Robert Dupea has made a career out of running from job to job and woman to woman. Presently working in an oil field, Dupea spends most of his free time downing beers, playing poker and being noncommittal with his sexy but witless girlfriend, Rayette. But when he is summoned to his father’s deathbed, Dupea returns home with Rayette, where he meets and falls for a sophisticated woman. Now caught between his conflicting lifestyles, the gifted but troubled Dupea must face issues that will change his life forever.
Deceptively simple, but one of the most complex and interesting films of its time, Five Easy Pieces (1970) garnered four 1970 Academy Award nominations including Best Picture, with Black receiving the 1970 New York Film Critics award (Best Suppporting Actress) for her excellent performance as Rayette.
About the filmmaker:
Bob Rafelson was an American film director, writer and producer who is regarded as one of the founders of the New Hollywood movement in the 1970s. Along with Bert Schneider, Rafelson created the pop group and Emmy Award-winning television series The Monkees and made his feature directorial debut with Head (1968), co-written with Jack Nicholson and starring the Monkees. Rafelson made an additional five films with Nicholson: Five Easy Pieces (1970), The King of Marvin Gardens (1972), The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981), Man Trouble (1992), and Blood and Wine (1996).
Five Easy Pieces (1970) received multiple Academy Award nominations, including Best Actor for Jack Nicholson, Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Karen Black, Best Picture, and Best Original Screenplay.
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