THE TRIP is the first film in what I like to call "the tripolgy": THE TRIP, EASY RIDER, THE LAST MOVIE. Although these movies aren't connected by a story, the characters Wyatt & Billy -played by Fonda & Hopper in Rider- could very easily be a continuation of the Paul and Max characters -played by Fonda & Hopper- in The Trip. The three movies are a trip through an era that that tuned in with marijuana and LSD in '67, turned on to the open road and communal lifestyle in '69, only to drop out from sensory overload/overdose in '71. Each film had something new and revolutionary to offer the film world. TLM had non-linear (non-)structure, EASY RIDER parlayed counter-culture idealism into a new visual language. What The Trip offered was a revolution in editing technique, obviously inspired by the "Russian cutting" of master filmmaker Sergei Eienstien, who used the technique purely for psychologically-driven dramatic purposes. Here it is elevated to a purely aesthetic visual (as well as pychologically-driven and dramatic) means of entertainment. Add jazz to the mix and you've really got something. Although overlooked at the time, THE TRIP is one of the best edited films of the sixties. The Trip was the first sign of new and revolutionary things to come from the filmmaking team of Fonda-Hopper-Nicholson. The partnership may have been short-lived, but the influence of their work is still felt today.
