1. English 299C: Film as Narrative Art Mr. Kelley

3. Five Easy Pieces (Bob Rafelson, 1970)

5. Points to Consider: Consider the ways in which the film successfully reverses audience expectations. Is Bobby a typical hero? Consider the contrasts set up by the film: the oil fields vs. Bobby’s home, Rayette vs. Catherine, country music vs. classical music, etc.

6. Describe Bobby. What does he want? From what is he running? Is he “searching” or “escaping”? What has his musical past to do with his problems? Describe the Dupea family. What sort of life has Bobby left before the events of the film actually begin?

8. Describe the relationship between Bobby and Rayette. Consider also Bobby’s sexual behavior throughout the film. What is the thematic function of the interlude with the hitch-hiking couple?

9. Does the film actually present any acceptable alternatives for Bobby? Have the director and the writer “stacked the deck”? Consider the film’s ending. Where is Bobby heading?

10. Does the film offer a clear vision of American society? Does Five Easy Pieces develop themes that seem to be especially “American”? Does it compare or contrast in any way with Easy Rider (Hopper, 1969), which was funded by the same group of people?

11. If you have seen other Jack Nicholson films from the 1970s—especially The Last Detail (Ashby, 1973), Chinatown (Polanski, 1974), One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (Forman, 1975), or The Missouri Breaks (Penn, 1976)—consider points of comparison in terms of the Nicholson character as a classically rebellious anti-hero. Is this concept ironic in context of Five Easy Pieces?

12. Five Easy Pieces also makes use of a favorite American genre—the “road film,” where the physical journey parallels the spiritual or psychological journey. With this in mind, compare and contrast the film with other films built around this same structure. Other films from the 1970s especially may offer insight.

13. Selected Filmography of Bob Rafelson Head (1968) The King of Marvin Gardens (1972) Stay Hungry (1976) The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981) Black Widow (1987) Mountains of the Moon (1990)