Stoner movie: HEAD (1968)

HEAD starring the 60s band The Monkees is one of the trippiest movies I ever saw. Truly like an acid trip.

Do you remember The Monkees? Well, they were a band in a TV show called The Monkees, but at the same time they were a real band (like if Leonard Nimoy [Spock] had decided to turn half-Vulcan for real). They also played the same songs in reality and in the fictional TV show. Confusing? Yup. Which is real—the band or the scripted show? HEAD evolves around this question, and the movie is as unconventional as the question is unusual.

You have probably never seen the likes of this stuff before. You’ll love it, but you have to be high. Ha ha… No, really.

There’s a logical explanation for the far out script. Reportedly, Bob Rafelson (director), Jack Nicholson (screenplay writer) and The Monkees (lead actors) brainstormed for the film on weed, recording ideas on to tape. Jack Nicholson later wrote the screenplay based on these ideas, while under the influence of LSD. Man… Those were the days!

Okay, but back to the plot. It’s a potpourri of several seemingly unconnected stories. In the end of the movie, however, you can see how they’re all part of a bigger tale. In the first scene, one of the band members, drummer and lead vocalist Micky Dolenz, commits suicide. How much sense does it make? None. Until later.

I really enjoyed HEAD. Mostly when receiving. *ZING* No? Okay, but it is actually both hilarious in it’s unpredictability and interesting for posing some spiritual/philosophical questions. E.g. is life a product of free will or some sort of script (i.e. destiny)?

Fuck it. Let’s blaze.

You can wath the full movie on YouTube.