Alice's Restaurant (1965)

Introduction

Alice's Restaurant is an American film of 1969 , directed by Arthur Penn , adapted from the text of the song "Arlo Guthrie" from the eponymous author , song itself inspired by an anecdote he had lived (Herndon, pp. 53).

Discussion

Alice's Restaurant is a film based on the song by Arlo Guthrie about Alice...and the restaurant. But seriously, the film details the events that occur while Arlo Guthrie and his friends prepare for a big thanksgiving dinner before getting arrested and then getting drafted. The film begins with Arlo arriving in town and meeting up with his old friends. During the course of the gathering, he meets up with Alice as well who spends most of her time in a nearby church. Once the ceremony commences, Arlo and his friends offer to help clean up the garbage that was left over from the dinner before going out and disposing of it. However, they end up getting into trouble with the law instead. Alice's Restaurant is by far one of the weirdest films I have ever seen. I can pretty much guarantee that you will never see another film like this. First of all, it is an extremely rebellious film, but not in the way you would expect. The film is more of a detailing of celebration between the friendships, hardships, and relativity between being with friends for the holiday while at the same time growing up with the times to deconstruct what one know about one's heritage and allow oneself to be a part of a community rather than a tradition. As a result it is a very sweet natured film. In essence the film has all the makings of a dated late-60s screwball comedy, but instead the film opts to tell the story of a translatable kind of youth ...