It was 1979. The Vietnam War had been over for four years. The "Summer of Love" was a distant, hazy memory buried under the weight of disco and the impending Reagan era. So, when Milos Forman finally brought Hair the movie musical to the big screen, the world wasn't quite sure what to make of it. Some people loved the cinematic sweep. Others? They felt like the soul of the counterculture had been ripped out and replaced with a Hollywood script.
Honestly, it’s a miracle the movie exists at all.
James Rado and Gerome Ragni, the guys who wrote the original stage show, spent years hating almost every script draft that came their way. They wanted the "tribal" feel. They wanted the plotless, psychedelic wandering of the Broadway phenomenon. But Forman, fresh off the massive success of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, wanted a story. He needed a protagonist. He gave us Claude Hooper Bukowski, a farm boy from Oklahoma who gets drafted and spends his last few days of freedom in Central Park. It’s a huge departure.
The Great Claude Debate: Oklahoma vs. The Tribe
In the original 1967 stage version, Claude isn’t some naive kid from the Midwest. He’s already a member of the Tribe. He’s a New York local struggling with the draft, sure, but he’s already "turned on, tuned in, and dropped out."
By turning Claude (played by John Savage) into a fish-out-of-water, Hair the movie musical changed the entire dynamic of the message. You’ve got Treat Williams playing Berger—who is absolutely electric, by the way—acting as the chaotic mentor to this square soldier-to-be. It makes the movie more accessible, but it also makes it feel a bit more like a traditional buddy comedy at times. That rubs purists the wrong way. They feel it sanitizes the grit of the East Village scene.
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But you can't deny the chemistry. Treat Williams didn't just play Berger; he was Berger. The way he dances on the dinner table during "I Got Life" is probably one of the most iconic moments in musical cinema. It’s spontaneous. It’s rude. It’s exactly what the parents in that scene feared.
Twyla Tharp’s Choreography Changed Everything
We have to talk about the dancing. Most musicals of that era felt very "stagey." The actors would stop, look at the camera, and do a jazz square. Not here. Twyla Tharp, a legend in the dance world, brought a sense of grounded, muddy, kinetic energy to the park.
The dancers aren't just performing; they’re vibrating. Look at the "Aquarius" opening. Ronnie Dyson starts singing, and the movement spreads through the crowd like a virus. It feels organic. It feels like these people have been living in the dirt for weeks and this is just how they communicate. It’s not "pretty" dancing, and that’s why it works. It captures the frantic desperation of a generation trying to stay young while the draft board is breathing down their necks.
The Ending That Still Crushes Souls
If you’ve only seen the play, the ending of the movie is a massive shock. In the play, Claude goes to war and dies. It’s tragic, but expected.
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In Hair the movie musical, Forman pulls a devastating switcheroo. Berger sneaks into the army base to swap places with Claude so Claude can have one last night with Sheila. But the timing goes horribly wrong. The unit is shipped out immediately. Berger, pretending to be Claude, marches onto the plane to the haunting sounds of "The Flesh Failures (Let the Sunshine In)."
Seeing Berger—the guy who was the heart of the rebellion—standing in a line of identical soldiers, his long hair gone, his identity erased, is a gut punch. It’s one of the most effective anti-war statements ever put on film. It shifts the focus from an individual’s choice to the sheer, random cruelty of the military-industrial complex.
Why the Soundtrack Still Holds Up
Let’s be real: Galt MacDermot’s score is a masterpiece. Even if you hate the plot changes, you can't deny the music.
- "Easy to be Hard" sung by Cheryl Barnes is a masterclass in vocal emotion. She was discovered working as a maid, and Forman put her in the film because her voice was just that raw.
- "Hare Krishna" manages to be both a joke and a sincere expression of the era's spiritual searching.
- "Black Boys / White Boys" is a hilarious, satirical look at interracial attraction that still feels sharp.
The recording quality of the 1979 film is vastly superior to the original cast recordings simply because of the technology available. The bass is funkier. The horns are tighter. It sounds like a rock record, not just a show tune collection.
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The Controversy with the Original Creators
It’s worth noting that Rado and Ragni were publicly unhappy. They felt the film was too "establishment." They hated that Sheila (played by Beverly D'Angelo) was turned into a debutante instead of being a political activist. In the play, she’s a leader. In the movie, she’s sort of a prize to be won.
That’s a fair critique. The film definitely leans into some 70s tropes that didn't exist in the 60s source material. It’s more of a period piece looking back than a contemporary cry for help.
But does that make it bad? Not necessarily. It just makes it a different beast.
Forman was an immigrant who escaped a communist regime. He saw the American "Hippie" movement through a different lens than the people who lived it. To him, the tragedy wasn't just about the war; it was about the loss of individuality. When he shows those rows and rows of crosses at Arlington National Cemetery at the very end, he isn't just talking about Vietnam. He’s talking about the cost of freedom.
How to Experience Hair Today
If you're looking to revisit this classic or see it for the first time, don't just put it on in the background. It’s a visual feast that deserves a big screen.
- Watch for the cinematography: Miroslav Ondříček, who also did Amadeus, shot this. The lighting in the "Good Morning Starshine" sequence is breathtaking.
- Listen for the nuance: Pay attention to the orchestration in "Manchester, England." It’s much more complex than it sounds on the surface.
- Context matters: Remember that this came out after Star Wars. The fact that a gritty, R-rated musical about draft dodging made it to theaters at all is wild.
Practical Steps for the Cinephile
- Compare the Versions: Listen to the 1967 Original Broadway Cast recording immediately after watching the film. You’ll notice how much the tempo was slowed down for the movie to allow for more "cinematic" moments.
- Check the Deleted Scenes: There are various versions and cuts that have floated around over the years. Look for the "The Bed" sequence which was cut from some television airings but is essential to the "Tribe" feel.
- Read Milos Forman’s Memoir: He goes into detail about the struggle of filming in New York during the late 70s and how he fought to keep the ending as dark as it was.
Hair the movie musical isn't a perfect time capsule. It's a filtered, stylized, and sometimes controversial look at a moment in time that changed America forever. It’s messy. It’s loud. It’s occasionally confusing. But just like the era it depicts, it’s impossible to ignore. Whether you're there for the protest or just the songs, it remains a landmark of musical cinema that refuses to fade away.