Word: rafelsons
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Five Easy Pieces (1970) d. Rafelson (Oscar nominee...
Take last year's The Postman Always Rings Twice, directed by buddy and fellow ball of energy Bob Rafelson. In this remake of the 1946 filming of James Cain's lascivious novelette, the wayfaring Nicholson picks up work at a gas station/diner because he lusts for the Greek owner's wife. The original discarded all ethnic and sexual references, using only the plot outline. You know how people fall in love in those old movies--a look and a kiss. It usually sufficed, but not when homicide was involved. Nicholson's bestial portrayal, with the re-inserted punching and humping...
Many had trouble accepting this motivation, especially when Nicholson's character did not receive the retribution Cain had planned, the (unjust, but plausible) charge of murdering Nora Papadakis, who dies when their car crashes. Rafelson explained his modified denouement as sufficiently powerful: seeing Jack Nicholson cry makes you feel rotten enough, and seeing him (as the book would) sentenced to death for following his passions would be too much...
Undaunted, Nicholson dug further into drug experience and scraped up Head (1968), starring the Monkees, and directed by one of their creators, Bob Rafelson. One memorable scene placed the unfab-four in the hair of a giant Victor Mature, as dandruff. Renata Adler of The New York Times summarized the Hollywood-establishment view of Nicholson's type of movie in a sentence...
Head (1968, co-wrote, co-produced, acted) d. Bob Rafelson...