1980’s Out of the Blue was more troubled than most troubled productions. Producers hired the notoriously unstable Dennis Hopper to play the father of a teen girl named Cebe – the title character of a Canadian project being filmed in Vancouver, BC by first-time director Leonard Yakir. The producers abruptly shut-down filming when Yakir’s early daily rushes proved to be unusable. Hopper saw an opportunity: He rewrote the film’s script over a weekend and pitched his new angle as a way to save the production. Hopper was sitting in the director’s chair on Monday morning.
Hopper, the director, is best categorized as a filmmaker of countercultures: Easy Rider (1969) immortalized the looks, lingo and philosophy of 1960s hippie culture, and Colors (1988) brought South Central Los Angeles’s street gang scene vividly to life in a time before most Americans had ever heard of Crips and Bloods. Even Hopper’s follow-up to Easy Rider – the aptly titled The Last Movie – immersed Western audiences in the lives of rural Peruvian villagers. Hopper showed us real gang-bangers in Colors and actual hippies in Easy Rider, and here we see Cebe sitting-in on the drums with the real-life Vancouver punk band the Pointed Sticks at a club show packed with actual local fans. Out of the Blue follows Cebe’s (the electric Linda Manz) story about a disaffected teenager whose life is defined by trauma and abuse – her father, Don (Hopper) is incarcerated after a drunk-driving tragedy, and her mother is a neglectful drug-addict who disrupts their lives with a succession of creepy boyfriends. Cebe worships Elvis Presley and spouts punk rock ideology: “Disco sucks!” But, she also still sucks her thumb and clings to a raggedy teddy bear in her sleep.
Out of the Blue gives us Hopper’s remarkable return to directing a decade after The Last Movie’s disastrous reception, but it’s most notable as a showcase for the crackling presence of Manz. Her nonchalant realist acting and improvisations vibrate with natural charisma, a gift for physical performance and biting comic timing. Manz came to the production after her also-iconic turn as Linda in Terrence Malick’s masterpiece Days of Heaven (1978). Malick struggled with his edit for over two years before bringing Manz back in to improvise the film’s iconic narration in her endlessly-listenable Bronx accent, tying-together the director’s impressionistic tale of love and death in turn-of-the-20th-century Texas. Lovers of contemporary cult cinema might be most familiar with Manz from her role as Solomon’s mother in Harmony Korine’s surrealist portrait of life in small town Ohio, Gummo.
In addition to Hopper’s helming and Manz’ unforgettable performance, this film also boasts a killer soundtrack that ranges from vintage Elvis rock ‘n’ roll tracks like “Heartbreak Hotel” and “Teddy Bear” to Neil Young’s title song “My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue).” The aforementioned Pointed Sticks unleash on tracks like “Out of Luck” and the irreverently-titled “Somebody’s Mom,” and The Powder Blues provide Don and his dirtbag friends with R&B-inspired rockers played at the speed of cocaine. A real highlight here is “Sorry Just Won’t Do” which is penned by The Powder Blues’ Tom Lavin and performed by Canadian bluesman and actor Jim Byrnes who sounds – in the best way – like Bob Seger’s long lost twin.
Out of the Blue gives us bravura filmmaking and an energizing soundtrack, but it’s ultimately a very dark, disturbing story that cranks-up the regular struggles and insecurities we expect in teen films until they actually explode. The film literally begins with a crash and the rest of the 94 minute movie is the chaotic aftermath that defines Cebe’s day-to-day life. Viewers might not want to follow Out of the Blue everywhere it takes them, and Hopper and his cast do a magnificent job of pacing this movie like a kettle on a slow boil that turns screaming hot before the audience realizes they’re the ones on the burner. The filmmakers pull this off by not pointing directly at the movie’s darkest underlying themes until the characters and viewers alike can no longer look away. Out of the Blue ends in a bittersweet catharsis of feminist empowerment and teenage revenge accompanied by burning images that mirror the combustible conclusion of Easy Rider.
Out of the Blue premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 1980, but its bleak story and production in-fighting meant it never received a proper run in theaters. The new release of this 4K restoration - and upcoming Bluray - looks to remedy that. When we think of 1980s teen heroines we might picture Molly Ringwald dancing in library detention or Jennifer Grey leaping into Patrick Swayze’s arms. But future generations might picture little Linda Manz greasing her hair back, muttering Elvis lyrics and lighting another cigarette.
Disco sucks!