Tracks |
(1976)
from Tuna|
Tracks (1976) is a Henry Jaglom film staring Dennis Hopper as an army Sergeant escorting a body across country on a train. At first, he does just what you would expect from a soldier, he tries to pick up Taryn Power, a young hippy college girl. As the journey goes on, it becomes increasingly obvious that Hopper is not firing on all cylinders. There will be times when you will be struggling to figure out what is real and what is only in Dennis Hopper's head. The soundtrack is probably the biggest clue as to the real meaning of this film. It is all WW II tunes, harkening back to a popular war full of heroes, who were welcomed home as such. In contrast, a deeply disturbed Hopper is escorting a coffin, and nobody seems to care. In typical Jaglom style, much of the dialogue is improvised. I am not a huge fan of Jaglom and his technique, especially the wordy improvisation. In this case, it was not enough to ruin the performances from the leads, and the power of the story. Hopper gives the performance of his life, and the ending will blow you away. |
|
||||
|
Scoop's notes Taryn Power is the daughter of screen legend Tyrone Power, who died when Taryn was 5. She had a pretty face and attempted to cash in on her looks and her name by establishing a screen career of her own in the mid seventies. It didn't take. She was gone from the acting world after 1977, but made two brief comebacks. In the first try, she appeared in a grade-Z horror movie in 1984. Her second comeback occurred in 1990 when Henry Jaglom remembered her and gave her a small role in "Eating." At one time she was engaged to Richard Chamberlain, who was 19 years older. They "never married." Do you think the fact that he was gay had some bearing on that? |
||||
|
||||
