Out Of The Blue — Out Of The Blue( Blu Ray)

Out Of The Blue was the third film directed by Dennis Hopper. It originally came out in the year 1980, appearing nine years after The Last Movie- his notorious & controversial previous film which blended gritty character study, trippy travel log, and Peruvian adventure/ drama- which mixed linear, and non-linear film-making. Out Of The Blue is another difficult and often unconventional film- which mixes edgy coming-of-age drama, troubled character study, and blunt arthouse tropes. Here from BFI is a two-disc Blu ray release of the film, featuring a new 4k transfer of the picture, two new commentary tracks, lengthy crew and cast interviews, and a few other new and archive extras.

Out Of The Blue was a Canadian production- with actor turned director Hopper helming the film, with the script having three-way writing credits going to Leonard Yakir(The Mourning Suit), Brenda Nielson, Dennis Hopper (uncredited)- though I suspect much of the film was improvised. It’s a generally darker, angrier, and later bleaker film than The Last Movie- though you can certainly say Hopper has a very distinctive directing style.

The films central character Cebe(Linda Manz) an edgy, difficult and troubled teen- whose only real loves are Elvis and punk rock. When we first meet Cebe, she dressed as a clown in a truck rig with her father Don( Hopper) who is boozing and talking instead of watching the road- and as a result ploughs at high speed into a bus full of kids. The film is largely set just before and just after Don’s five-year stint in jail for the incident. Also in Cebe's life is Kathy (Sharon Farrell) who when we first meet her seems a happy-go-lucky mom- but as things unfold, we find she is a heroin addict and an emotional mess.
 
The film unfolds in a loose/ drifting manner- moving between linear and non-linear storytelling. More often than not key scenes you expect in the stories unfold don’t appear. To begin with, we focus on Cebe wandering aimlessly around the streets, talking with her mother in the diner she works in, and causing trouble/ back talking. At a point, she seemingly runs away from home, lands up going to a punk gig, steals a car- then is back home and in trouble. Around halfway in Hooper turns up and starts work at a seagull bound local dump. And we slowly but surely move towards the films very grim end.
 
None of the lead characters are pleasant/ likeable- Cebe is brash, brattish and often whiny. Don is still boozing and acting un-responsibly, and Kathy is a dumb and flirting addict. Most of the supporting characters aren’t much better either- we have Don Gordon as Don’s letch/ suggested paedophile drinking buddy Charlie, and the group of girls hanging out with Cebe are one-dimensional gang members. The only semi-likeable/ related characters here are Dr Brean (Raymond Burr) as Cebe social worker, and Paul(Eric Allen) who Kathy works for.
 
The two things that suck you in and keep you held for Out of The Blue just over an hour and half runtime, is the honest, at points gritty acting. Hopper’s unpredictable filming flow/ structure, and the moments of raw-later- very trouble emotions. I was a huge fan of The Last Movie, really enjoy the films unpredictable flow/ honest- and while I enjoyed elements of Out Of The Blue, it’s certainly an often trying and difficult film- which I’m still somewhat on the fence about. But it’s most certainly one of the more original and troubling dramas of the 70’/’80s, which I’d loosely compared to something like Herzog’s Stroszek due to its study of largely unlikeable character’s, the faltering downside of the American dream, and its grim resolve.
 
Moving onto this new two-disc blu ray release. And on the first disc, we have the film, two commentary tracks, a new visual essay, and a selection of archive material... The film itself looks really nicely crisp and clear, with the films faded and tired 80’s Americana really shining in bleak reverence. Moving onto the new stuff- and we have the two commentary tracks- the first of these is from American film academic Kate Rennebohm- and this is a largely interesting/ rewarding track. She starts off commenting on the films opening bus crash, and how it informs the rest of the films blend gritty realism and surrealism. She moves on to discuss this new 4k scan, who's behind it, and how it came about. She talks about the film being one of the Canadian tax shelter films, and briefly chatting about how impactful the tax shelter films were important for both Canada and the US, as apparently there were only three Canadian films made at the start of the ’70s, this went up to seventy-seven by the decade's end. She discusses Hoppers rewriting of the film's script/ how he changed it, with one of the initial influences being Neil Young's Song “My, My, Hey, Hey”. She talks about the shooting style and the effective use of close-ups for more tense/ emotional scenes. As we move on, she focuses on specific scenes, compares the film to others in the New Hollywood films that appeared in the 60’s/’70s. She comments about how the films about loneliness in young women, and more.
The next track is from genre commentator/ critic/ author Kat Ellinger- and as always this is another well researched, thought-provoking, and entertaining track from Ms Ellinger. She starts off by talking about how the opening scene ushed in the whole impending doom of the film, which echoed what happened in the US & UK in the ’80s. Discusses the film's themes of loss of innocence/ stripping off the veneer of the American dream. She talks about how the film personally resonates with her, due to having similar difficult/ rebellious teen years. Discusses why she feels the film is a great/revolutionary film about female teen anger. She talks about how Hopper was influenced by his own teen years when writing the script, discusses how/why it’s a punk film, and much more.
The other new extra here is  Subverting Normality: Linda Manz Comes from Out of the Blue- which is a visual essay from  Amanda Reyes and Chris O’Neil, this runs seventeen minutes- finding the pair making some worthy observations about the film.
The remainder of the first disc is taken up by a good selection of archive extras- a third commentary track from 2000 with Dennis Hopper, producer Paul Lewis and distributor John Alan Simon. There’s a ninety-one-minute Guardian audio-only interview with Hopper, an onscreen interview with Hopper from 1984- this runs ninety-seven minutes. We get a selection of archive shorts, a one-minute radio spot from 1982 with Jack Nicholson, and trailers.
 
Over on the second disc, and we get two big new extras- the first is Remembering Out Of The Blue, this takes in nine separate skype interviews with crew and cast from the film- with this running for a total of nearing three hours. There’s Me & Dennis- which takes in four skype interviews with filmmakers who respected/ knew Hopper- this runs over one and a half hours. There’s a thirteen-minute interview with filmmaker Alex Cox- this runs thirteen. And lastly, 2020's Q & A with John Alan Simon and Elizabeth Karr discuss the history and restoration of the film. The finished release comes with an illustrated booklet with essays by Sheila O’Malley and Vic Pratt; an extract from ‘Dennis Hopper: how far to the Last Movie?’, originally published in the Monthly Film Bulletin, October 1982; two reviews from 1981 and notes on the special features.
 

It certainly is marvellous to see the BFI giving this distinctive and at points troubling film such a extras packed reissue, with the 4K print looking really wonderful. If you like artier, edgy, and at times grim takes on film drama, and/ or of course a Hopper fan- this will certainly appeal.