CinematICA: Dennis Hopper's The Last Movie at the ICA London

The ICA are screening Dennis Hopper's unreleased The Last Movie

The Last Movie is Dennis Hopper's second directorial outing, after Easy Rider. Hopper stars as Kansas, a movie wrangler on location in Peru. After witnessing the accidental death of a stuntman, he stays behind in the village, dreaming of a simple life with his Peruvian girlfriend Maria. But he finds himself drawn into the harsh, ritualistic world of the local peasants as they start to mimic violent scenes from the movie with their own wicker cameras. Throw into the mix a Treasure of Sierra Madre-inspired scheme to mine gold, a decadent encounter with a wealthy American family, dreamy camerawork from László Kovács and an original soundtrack featuring Kris Kristofferson, and you have a dazzling, outrageous vision that was way ahead of its time.

We are grateful to Easy Rider Productions for permission to screen The Last Movie. Please note that this is the only known 35mm print in the UK, and as such there is a slight reduction of quality at the ends of reels and some discoloration.

The Last Movie is a 1971 drama film from Universal Pictures. It was written and directed by Dennis Hopper, who also played a horse wrangler named after the state of Kansas. It also starred Peter Fonda, Henry Jaglom and Michelle Phillips. Production of the movie, which cost $1 million, took place in the film's major setting, Peru.

The movie won the Critics Prize at the Venice Film Festival; despite this, it failed financially and critically after a two-week run at New York City's Cinema 1.[1] Because of its resulting demise, Hopper did not direct again until 1980's TV movie Out of the Blue, and the theatrically-released 1988 drama Colors.

Dir Dennis Hopper, US 1971, 108 mins, Cert X