Five Easy Pieces

''Five Easy Pieces'' is a 1970 American road drama film directed by Bob Rafelson, written by Rafelson and Carole Eastman (as Adrien Joyce), and starring Jack Nicholson, Karen Black, Susan Anspach, Lois Smith, and Ralph Waite. The film tells the story of surly oil rig worker Bobby Dupea (Nicholson), whose rootless blue-collar existence belies his privileged youth as a piano prodigy. When Bobby learns that his father is dying, he travels to his family home in Washington to visit him, taking along his uncouth girlfriend (Black).

The film was nominated for four Academy Awards and five Golden Globe Awards, and was inducted into the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress in 2000, being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Plot

Bobby Dupea works in an oil field in Kern County, California. He spends most of his time with his girlfriend Rayette, a waitress who has dreams of singing country music, or with fellow oil worker Elton, with whom he bowls, gets drunk, and philanders.

When Bobby gets Rayette pregnant and Elton is arrested, Bobby quits his job and goes to Los Angeles, where his sister Partita is making a classical piano recording. She tells Bobby, who was once also a pianist, that their father has suffered two strokes, and urges him to reconcile with the family at their home in Washington.

Rayette threatens to kill herself if Bobby leaves her, so he reluctantly asks her along. Driving north, they pick up Terry and Palm, two stranded women headed for Alaska. The latter launches into a monologue about the evils of consumerism. The four are thrown out of a diner after Bobby argues with an obstinate waitress over his order. Bobby drops off Terry and Palm when they get to Washington.

Ashamed to introduce Rayette to his upper-class family, Bobby registers her in a motel before driving alone to the family home on an island in Puget Sound. He finds Partita giving their father a haircut; the old man seems completely oblivious to him. At dinner, Bobby meets Catherine Van Oost, a young pianist studying under and engaged to his amiable brother Carl, a violinist. Despite personality differences, Catherine and Bobby are immediately attracted to each other. Learning that Bobby was once a pianist, she asks him to play for her. She is moved by his rendition of Frédéric Chopin's Prelude, Op. 28, No. 4, but Bobby dismisses her, insisting that he played with "no inner feeling". Angered by Bobby's rejection, she leaves, but he follows after her and they have sex in her room.

Rayette runs out of money at the motel and comes to the Dupea estate unannounced. Her presence creates an awkward situation, but when intellectual family friend Samia Glavia ridicules her, Bobby comes to her defense. Storming out of the room in search of Catherine, he discovers his father's male nurse giving Partita a sensual massage. He picks a fight with the nurse, who easily subdues him.

Bobby tries to persuade Catherine to go away with him, but she declines, telling him he cannot ask for love when he does not love himself, or anything at all. After tearfully confessing his regrets to his unresponsive father, Bobby leaves for California with Rayette. Shortly into the trip, they stop for gas and coffee; while Rayette's view is obstructed, Bobby hitches a ride on a truck headed north.

Cast

Production

While the film's earlier scenes were shot in California, the majority was filmed in the Pacific Northwest. Filming primarily occurred on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, with additional photography occurring in Florence and Portland, Oregon. The diner sequence, in which Robert pesters an obstinate waitress, was filmed at a Denny's along Interstate 5 near Eugene, Oregon. Screenwriter Carole Eastman based the scene on a real incident she witnessed at Pupi's Bakery and Sidewalk Café in Los Angeles, where an aggrieved Jack Nicholson pushed all the plates and cups off of a table, and on Rafelson frequently asking for substitutions at restaurants.

To prepare for his role, Jack Nicholson undertook piano lessons from Polish concert pianist Josef Pacholczyk.

In 2022, Sally Struthers revealed that director Bob Rafelson coerced her into appearing nude on set against her stated wishes, and made a false promise that she would not appear nude in the final cut.

Music

The opening credits list the five classical piano pieces played in the film and referenced in the title. Pearl Kaufman is credited as the pianist.

* Frédéric Chopin, Fantaisie in F minor, Op. 49, played by Bobby on the back of a moving truck
* Johann Sebastian Bach, '' Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue'', BWV 903, played by Partita in a recording studio
* Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Piano Concerto No. 9 in E-flat major, K. 271, played by Carl and Catherine upon Bobby's arrival at the house
* Chopin, Prelude in E minor, Op. 28, No. 4, played by Bobby for Catherine
* Mozart, Fantasy in D minor, K. 397

Also included are four songs sung by Tammy Wynette: " Stand by Your Man", "D-I-V-O-R-C-E", " Don't Touch Me", and "When There's a Fire in Your Heart".

Release

The film was shown at the New York Film Festival on September 11, 1970. It opened commercially on September 12 at the Coronet Theatre in New York.

Box office

In the film's opening weekend at the Coronet, it grossed $10,476. It grossed $36,710 in its first week. After ten weeks of release, it reached number one at the US box office.

The film earned $1.2 million in the United States in 1970. By 1976, it had earned $8.9 million in the United States and Canada.

Critical response

''Five Easy Pieces'' opened to positive reviews. It currently holds an 89% positive rating on online review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, based on 55 reviews, with an average rating of 8.60/10. The site's consensus states: "An important touchstone of the New Hollywood era, ''Five Easy Pieces'' is a haunting portrait of alienation that features one of Jack Nicholson's greatest performances."

Roger Ebert gave the film four out of four stars, describing it as "one of the best American films" and "a masterpiece of heartbreaking intensity" and deeming Bobby Dupea "one of the most unforgettable characters in American movies." Ebert named it the best film of 1970, and later added it to his " Great Movies" list.

In a mixed review, critic John Simon criticized ''Five Easy Pieces'' for its "pretentiousness" but praised the performances of Karen Black, Lois Smith, and Billy Green Bush.

The February 2020 issue of ''New York Magazine'' lists ''Five Easy Pieces'' as among "The Best Movies That Lost Best Picture at the Oscars."

In 2022 retrospective review, Polish writer Jacek Szafranowicz called the film "flawless" and "one of the masterpieces of the New Hollywood era".

Accolades

Home media

''Five Easy Pieces'' was released on VHS by RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video in 1988.

On November 16, 1999, Columbia TriStar Home Video released the film on two-sided DVD-Video, featuring both fullscreen (4:3) and widescreen formats.

Grover Crisp of Sony Pictures conducted a 4K restoration of the film, which was screened in DCP in 2012.

The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray by The Criterion Collection in November 2010 as part of the box set ''America Lost and Found: The BBS Story''. This release includes audio commentary by Rafelson and interior designer Toby Rafelson; ''Soul Searching in "Five Easy Pieces"'', a 2009 video piece with Rafelson; ''BBStory'', a 2009 documentary about Raybert/BBS Productions, with Rafelson, Nicholson, Black, Burstyn, Peter Bogdanovich, and Henry Jaglom, among others; and audio excerpts from a 1976 AFI interview with Rafelson. On June 30, 2015, the film was released as a stand-alone DVD and Blu-ray by the Criterion Collection.

See also

* List of cult films

References

External links

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1970 films
1970 drama films
1970s drama road movies
American drama road movies
Columbia Pictures films
1970s English-language films
Films about disability in the United States
Films about dysfunctional families
Films about petroleum
Films about pianos and pianists
Films about social class
Films about the upper class
Films directed by Bob Rafelson
Films featuring a Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe–winning performance
Films set in California
Films set in Washington (state)
Films shot in British Columbia
Films shot in California
Films shot in Eugene, Oregon
Films shot in Portland, Oregon
Films with screenplays by Carole Eastman
Films with screenplays by Bob Rafelson
United States National Film Registry films
Films produced by Bob Rafelson
1970s American films