Jack Nicholson: Five Easy Pieces ("Life You Don't Approve") Monologue
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- Опубліковано 14 жов 2024
- "Five Easy Pieces (1970)"
Movie Monologues
IMDb: www.imdb.com/ti...
Are you cold? I don't know if you'd be.. particularly interested in hearing anything about me. My life, I mean... most of it doesn't add up to much that I could relate as a way of life that you'd approve of. I move around a lot. Not because I'm looking for anything really, but, because... I'm getting away from things that get bad... when I stay. Auspicious beginnings, you know what I mean? I'm trying to imagine your half of this conversation. My feeling is I don't know that if you could talk we wouldn't be talking. That's pretty much how it got to be before I left. Are you all right? I don't know what to say... Tita suggested that we try to... I don't know. I think that she... feels that we've got some understanding to reach. She totally denies the fact that we were never that comfortable with one another to begin with. The best that I can do is apologize. We both know that I was never really that good at it anyway. I'm sorry it didn't work out.
The last three lines are the heart of the movie: "we both know that i was never that good at it anyway" is the line of the film: his character still railing against himself and still not having any love for himself.
I periodically rewatch this scene every two weeks or so.
Daniel Febrizio :(
Me too!
You must all suffer from Alzheimer's.
Same here. It's comforting to sense that degree of authentic emotion. Just an incredible performance.
Yeah, like great music or art, it sort of reminds you of what is possible with a talented, committed cast and crew. This movie gets lost in the shuffle sometimes with a decade chock full of more talked about films. Chinatown, The Godfathers, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Serpico, The Deer Hunter, Star Wars, Rocky, Nashville......but this one has a gravitas and sincerity about it that makes it endearing. I would call it the crisis of The Underachiever, along with all the cultural angst and turmoil of the time period.
That "...I don't know what to say..." is like a punch in the stomach.
He has been living his whole life running from love and understanding. The only time he shows it is when his dad is nonverbal and near death... he is always running away. What an amazing and heartbreaking movie
Nicholson is such a great actor he makes you forget that he is having a conversation with himself using emotion.
It's funny, my favourite films with Jack Nicholson are very non-serious (The Shining, Batman, etc) but this?? This is the best acting I've ever seen from him. It feels so raw and real. He could be serious when it counted. A great actor. I'll be so sad when he passes away.
The Cinema Cynic This movie was before he became a caricature of himself. He’s great then, too. But he was just Jack. Not “JACK”!!!!!!!!!
charley downey I wouldn't call The Shining non-serious
You should watch Chinatown and Carnal Knowledge as well. There's alot of movies he's acted in that are great acting performances.
Watch "About Schmidt" to see Jack at his absolute best. He plays a man who goes through life "playing it safe" emotionally and with his interpersonal relationships only to realize he's completely "bankrupt" as a fully developed human being in his twilight years.
The shinning, non-serious? You must not have much of an imagination.
I'm reading Arnold Schwarzeneggers biography and he wrote that the acting teacher the taught Jack (and then Arnold) said that that the director talked to Jack for two hours about his life until he saw Jack getting upset, and then they filmed this. So it's sorta real.
🙂
I just read this as well
Arnie did the same thing when he said: I know now why you cry...but realize it is something I can never do....
Yeah it almost is the real thing
Acting is something u got it or u dont. Rest is all bs
Without a doubt the saddest movie I've ever seen, and one of the most incredible and moving. Perhaps Jack's best performance.
The stunning horizon shot of the overcast sunset helps create an incredible cold, bleak mood. Then Nicholson goes on to deliver one of the greatest monologues in all of film. Perfect cinema.
If Jack Nicholson had never done another single scene, this would have put him in the history books.
But he is in the history books
Beautiful! To present scripted words as if they're your own organic thoughts is truly an art form. I mean Jack's pauses, his deep breaths and facial expressions perfectly match the emotion of this situation. What an amazing performance!
passing this along only as a fellow jack fan...in case it grabs you as much as it did me...jack actually wrote this scene...ua-cam.com/video/bOpG1UNMsHk/v-deo.html
Gary Oldman and Christian Bale come to mind. Especially Bale. Gary Oldman in THE CONTENDER and THE PROFESSIONAL. Christian Bale in AMERICAN HUSTLE , THE BIG SHORT and the creepiest movie you ever want to see -THE MACHINIST>
Jack wrote the dialog for this scene himself
I just watched this movie again the other day. I’m not super crazy about the scene. It does seem a little bit forced. I’m gonna watch it this particular scene again right now to see what I think at this moment.
I think the problem with the seniors, the movie doesn’t set it up. Apparently the green play his mother dies and he doesn’t go to the funeral and that’s kind of when he leaves the family and starts drifting… I mean it’s not all very clear.
iMovie seems to indicate that he took off from the family about three years ago. Maybe that’s when his mother died. But there’s no real set up for him to have to come And reconcile with his father… It’s hardly even an ocean or a rumor in the movie… It’s mostly about his restlessness… And the fact that he comes from this kind of wealthy background… Maybe they’re pretentious… Maybe they’re petit bourgeois, There’s one credit card said… Maybe they’re real old money and classy and full of culture and everything like that.
Anyway, again, my main point is that he comes to do this reconciliation with his father with whom he can’t quite have a conversation but the movie doesn’t really set up this relationship with his father. So this thing doesn’t really land as emotionally as it might.
I'm 46 and I just watched this film for the first time. I can see why people hold it such high regard. Jack is incredible and this is one of the better scenes,
This scene directly addresses the genius symbolism of the Diner scene. Bobby drifts around so much and struggles to be serious, emotional or atatched to anything or anyone despite his talent and good heart, because he can't deal with the struggle's of life, especially because he understands how much better things could be, and he can't take things as they are, for example when he plays the piano he logically talks himself out of the emotion he might feel playing, because he find it silly. "I know that's what it comes with but that's not what I want". Even sadder is that Bobby gives the waitress a perfectly reasonable solution to the problem with him ordering toast (the issues of life), but it still doesn't work. That's life I guess
One of the most versatile actors.
He dose a great Indian and black lesbian too.
+Violet Newstead his Asian grandmother is perfect
+Phoenix Zappa More believable as a black lesbian.
Forty years later, this movie is still timeless. I watched it while I was in college, and it had already been around for 10 years. Now 30+ years later and it still resonates.
Bonjr / Someday We'll Be Together Again
omg :')
luis I also came to look for this scene because of the song... its awesome ❤
😍😍
It gave me Chills when i heard the same dialogues!
PRECISELY lol
so sublime
This scene hits so close to home for me. In the last few years of my father's life I had a strained relationship with him. He didn't want me to follow in his footsteps but I think he was perplexed and disappointed in me because I wasn't living up to my full potential. The funny thing is that I didn't want to live up to my full potential. I just wanted to coast through life making the most minimum effort possible. I can so relate to Nicholson's sadness in disappointing his father and himself at the same time. You can see he wants to be more. He's rebelling against something but he doesn't know what. I'm still rebelling but at least now I know what I'm rebelling against. Jack Nicholson was on fire in the 70s. All of his movies from that decade were great!
This was a really beautiful and insightful comment to read, thank you so much for sharing this.
@@davetrachtenberg6855 Thank you for appreciating my commentary! I just spoke from my heart. ❤ Five Easy Pieces is one of my all time fave movies because it just hits so close to home for me.
I hope you found peace.
And I hope happiness found you.
@@sammajor2075 Thank you so much for your lovely comment. Slowly but surely I am building a foundation of peace and happiness for myself. Unlike Jack Nicholson’s character I’m no longer running away from myself
@@strawberrylemonadekristina
That is really great to hear.
Really,truly great to know.
You made my day. Thank you!
One of the most beautiful films ever made.
The Warrior He was refused by what could've been his "one true love;" because she thought that his own cynicism would envelope them. He sought to make amends with his wheel chair-bound father but he was incapable of any indignation or response. Finally, he comes to realize he's had enough of his life and whatever he had before all this drama occurred, so he seeks a new persona elsewhere.
+Lucas Davis True. It's the Kardashian family's favourite art film. Well. Not sure about that. But it's mine.
+The Warrior There is no moral message or story "ARC" but don't worry. The block buster movies made now all have arc, resolution - and someone (usually a hero) "see's the light" or "wins the game" or " loses the game and sees his moral lacking" so no need to worry about this type of film, anymore. (unless you watch Sundance films, and i do)
+LO BO you are stupid, this movie has such a strong message. you just dont know where to look. try again.
I just thought it was a great movie. Maybe there's a moral or maybe there isn't, but the impact it had on me was one of great magnitude. "Five Easy Pieces" can be a divisive picture and that's fine (some films are like that), but I think that it leaves one feeling something, whether it's a feeling of emptiness or a feeling of poignant introspection. I love it, but it doesn't mean anyone else has to.
The New Hollywood/American New Wave-films was really the best era ever of movies, real and raw human emotions for the win.
Love this scene. Everyone remembers the cafe scene but I think this one is really the heart of the movie. Nicholson's one of the few great actors who hasn't (at least in my opinion) gotten better with age. It seems he can't give a performance anymore without giving in to the Jack-is-the-coolest-guy-in-the-room persona. As an artist, worst thing that ever happened to him was the discovery of how much people loved that devilish smile. But in the 1970s... man, what great, subtle performances.
It is not Nicolson's fault that most of the movies he now gets offered are crap that he can just mug through. He is still a great actor. Hollywood has gone down the pan not Jack.
@@matthewcoombs3282 There's some truth to that. He became famous during one of Hollywood's golden ages. Now most movies emphasize special effects over great human stories, and an actor with his gifts rarely gets the opportunity to work with first rate material.
Yes. he's still exploring and applying his craft here. later, like around Witches of Eastwick, he played to a caricature. Still charismatic, but became a performer rather than an actor.
Heartbreaking, beautiful scene from a great film - one of the greatest of its era!
This is real. It's so much like what it was like the last time I saw my father. Nicholson got it right.
This whole movie (and this scene in particular) is so relatable to me i get emotional everytime i watch it
People want "action" and talk on and on about that famous "diner scene" from the same movie... but this is what truest form of action is... not by words and works...
THAT, ladies and gentlemen, is called ACTING. Unbelievably brilliant and they filmed that entire monologue in one go adding the cuts later.
It's a great scene, and one of my all time favorites, but I'm fairly certain it was not done in one take. There's clearly at least one sound edit early on, and much more noticable... if you focus attention on Jack's hair, a wild tuft on the left of center is smoothed out and gone for his last few lines. I know many will say I'm nit picking but there are people on crew that are suppose to watch for continuity issues like that.
Jack is so gorgeous in this movie.
*KIMERIE TATE, JACK IS NOW 80 YEARS OLD! CAN YA IMAGINE THAT!?¿*
The girl with short hair sat across from Jack in the booth in the diner scene was gorgeous.
Loneliest protagonist ever portrayed in the history of cinema.
Imagine being too rough to fit in with your uptight classical family, but too refined to fit in with the average Joe
@@jm9980 from which one?
bud from the brown bunny but dont let the hoes know i said it
If I had to single out the most heartbreaking movie scene of the past 60 years or so, this would rank at the top.
This movie touched me and this is one of the great Nicholson performances.
How special it is that such a impactful scene from a long-past classic of Jack Nicholson's is available in the YT world. Thx a great deal 4 making this available, so maybe some new fans can find it. I felt it was 1 of Jack's best roles; a role many people of different times can pay attention to. The cinematography was excellent; very pictureesque. Speaks of a rough time in which 1 is searching for themselves; we need more of that today, reflection. Powerful U can only see dad's face, no voice.
Happy birthday Jack! This scene propelled you into mega stardom.
I really loved that scene! Jack Nicholson really showed real feeling in it when he was talking to his father.
Jack Nicholson will never let you down in any role he plays, just amazing.
You just gotta ask him nicely.
Sooo good. Beautiful delivery and absolutely connected
I read a great story that Jack Nicholson and Bob Rafelson couldn't agree on how to shoot this scene--Bob wanted tears, Jack didn't think it would be natural. They eventually agreed that they'd just shoot the scene and see where it took them. This is the only take that they filmed--with tears--and it's obviously the one that's in the film.
This was really amazing method acting
One of my favorite films... And this scene is one of the reasons.
I never watched this film. I learned about this from a Bonjr song, but just watching it with no outside knowledge, I can feel some emotional tug from Jack's monologue. His acting is amazing!
which song?
Beautiful acting by Jack Nicholson.
That’s about the conversation I’d have with my Dad.
Wow. When he starts crying it is so real.
He's definitely really crying. He dug down deep and found some real pain to focus on
And i think he was “really” walking when the scene started
I agree & that this scene also captures Nicholson's unresolved feelings for his father. He really shows great emotion towards him.
When asked in interviews which one of the characters that he's played most resembles himself, Jack always replies.. "Bobby"..
Ultimately, Bobby Dupea is a tragic figure. He chose to live a free-wheeling life of abandonment to himself and unconcern for the people he took advantage of, only to find that his carnal way of life is empty and meaningless.
Interesting that when this movie is mentioned it is usually this scene of the diner scene that people remember.
Definitely a different size of Jack Nicholson. This feels like a James Dean performance.
couldn't believe what I'd watched ..i was expecting something ordinary out of this movie ..it turn out this movie is one of the best ever made in its genre .. it's kind of noir ..
Heart-wrenching film, about a unique persona.
I find saddest joy, watching this over and over again.
Just watched this film for the first time yesterday and this scene really stuck with me. Thank you for sharing
Jack Nicholson non ha mai conosciuto suo padre. Questo fatto rende la scena ancora più triste e autentica.
I feel so grateful to the fact of being born at the end of 20 century of watching this film.
I bet we are all looking at this video making the exact same face as that old man. That's how good his acting is. Giving life into a script and a whole scene.
He wrote this monologue himself 💔
The character he plays is probably bipolar (alternating highs and lows). He is very calm in this scene apart from the brief cry, which I think only emphasizes his internal conflicts. He knows he should have been a better son, but he can't change. Added to this is his fathers only means of communication, through his eyes. It ironic that Jack wants to talk, but his Dad can't the Cats in the Cradle scenario reversed.
This scene kills me.
Jack, I love you in this scene - my mum had a stroke and she always communicated with her eyes. You are also excellent in this role of a son who wants to connect to his Dad, but its so hard to if you just don't have that bond. My Dad passed away in May 2010 and luckily we spent lots of time together at the end, but we never were really close. I think he passed away understanding I wanted to appologise for the fact we hadn't bonded - as Jask said - "the best I can do is apologise......."
Damn this shit is so heavy. So, so good.
Every part Nicholson touches is gold. He's that good.
I feel he never got out of Hollywood what he put in.
True talent.
deeply powerful acting, eloquent, poignant, heartbreaking. As sensational a moment as any, an actor has put on screen. Great little film!
One of the greats!!! Rips your heart out it is so true.
My brother's favorite movie. One of the best.
Probably my favourite scene from all the movies I've seen except maybe Burton just before the end of 'The spy who came in from the cold'
In an interview, Mr Nicholson says the writer of the screenplay (a close friend of Nicholson's) didn't want this scene, considering it too pat and predictable, and that Mr Nicholson agreed. Not the scene itself but the purpose of the scene. Watched the film for the first time only the other day, and consider it stupendous, even this scene. So much better than when he's 'being Jack Nicholson'. And such a pleasure to see a film that doesn't have a sad/happy ending. It just ends.
I saw an interview describing how Nicholson re-wrote the dialogue on the day of the shoot.
As a female, I was HORRIFIED at the ending. You started to like the guy despite the fact that he's a prick, but at the end, you're back to WHAT A PRICK.
Although...Karen Black was no picnic in this film...
I didn't know what to think at the end.
@@mistymeaner1753
Ha ha, to suggest that the ending is worse for 'a female' (of unspecified species) is to suggest that no woman would ever just walk out on her man.
I have a friend who said he didn't think Jack Nicholson was a good actor, with the exception of One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest and Batman what else has he done? I replied by suggesting he should watch Five Easy Pieces and Chinatown. He did and then conceded that Nicholson is brilliant. I wish more people would take the time to try and discover the great workfrom earlier in their career of some of the greats like Nicholson and De Niro.
And "The Last Detail."
Excellent film.
@@susanmurphy958 Also "Carnal Knowledge."
so beautiful. thanks for posting.
"we both know that i was never that good at it anyway" is the killer line.
Simply one of the best performances in American cinema
A great piece of Cinema.
The acting, the writing, the direction, etc. Jack is at his best here.
auspicious beginnings you know what I mean
Someday we'll be together again - Bonjr
Rest in peace, Mr. Rafelson.
Very powerful scene in a great movie which I remember primarily for the 'hold the mayo' scene as do - judging by the posts - a few others.Watched a Picasso documentary last night about another creative genius who burned brightly for the first half of his life but resorted to self pastische for the rest of it... it's just the way of things I guess.
To really understand this film...you really need to be a musician. This is what can happen to a musician when you have a sincere heart, strive for excellence,
and realize you'll never master the art form. and that the world is incompetent and not even aware of it.
The movie is a contemporary adaptation of the biblical parable, "The Prodigal Son". Music represents spirituality. Bobby Dupea gives it up for carnality ("a far country"). Unlike the Bible story, this prodigal finds his father incapable of welcoming him home and his older brother in no mood to forgive his abandonment of music (spirituality). Tragically, the prodigal realizes he's thrown away something of lasting value for the temporal and ultimately worthless way of the flesh.
i heartily disagree that you need to be a musician to understand it and I'm not sure that's fully accurate for the character. However, I feel you, as a musician, learned something from it and I'm glad it was meaningful for you
@@falcon5467
Good observations, mate. This scene is the only one in the film wherein Nicholson's character, Bobby, expresses vulnerability. In three minutes of time, we, the audience, are provided insight into the character we have watched throughout the duration of the film. By the film's conclusion, we see Nicholson's character confirm that he will do as he has always done: futilely run, carrying on with no direction in life, avoiding responsibility and commitment (guised as freedom), in a vain quest for fulfilment he shall never find.
@@BP-sk7lp Thanks. The final scene in the gas station men's room where Bobby is staring at himself in the mirror is his painful self-examination: his attractive physical body and his clever mind that he once took so much pride in are now his prison of flesh and mental despair in which he is condemned to spend the rest of his life trapped inside. BTW, when Jack Nicolson was asked which character in his movie career he identified with the most he simply said, "Bobby".
@@falcon5467 Also, when he departs for Alaska with the trucker, he realizes that he has forgotten to bring his coat, but doesn't care.
Incandescently brilliant and simultaneously harrowing.
Perfect scene. A masterpiece.
Wish the whole film was available on UA-cam. Can't believe I never heard of it! The clips look great and both Nicholson and Karen Black were Oscar nominated (he's a 3 times Academy Award winner and one of only 2 actors to be Oscar nominated every decade from 1960).
He always play such sweethearts! Love you, Jack! :P
Gwen Lanter he was a man child who treated his partner terribly. He couldn’t cut the cord because he was a coward. How was he a sweetheart?
@@jonathankr Her comment is so patently false I have to think she's being sarcastic. He almost always (with the exception of "About Schmidt") plays smart ass cynics. Here he's playing a man who deserted his family for a lifestyle of carnality and irresponsibility.
so beautiful
thinking of doing this for my audition
Second that ! Nicholson at his finest
Finally it's here ! Thanks for uploading, MM. One of the best.
It's great art that the father is there and not really there, just as before. Other dementia patients could cloud the issue with witty one-liners that are sometimes fairy tales and at other times, all the family secrets the son never knew.
@2three7films Totally agree with you! This era of film making and actors is long since gone. Very sad indeed.
It is a pity that Nicholson did not do more art house film. His mainstream career, while entertaining, cannot match this.
bonjr brought me here :))
@noname6317 There's a book about that era. It's called "Easy Riders and Raging Bulls."
The "New Hollywood" of the 1970's eventually imploded and collapsed, because the actors/directors had huge egos.
Hollywood discovered it could make more money from movie franchisees selling plastic toys and merch and that they made more money than films with adult themes.
Nicholson actually wrote that monologue.....
That is awesome. No wonder it feels so real.
Brough here from the song “I’m imagining your half of this conversation” by j^p^n
This is really really good acting
I have read that Nicholson did this scene in one take (& most of it was 'ad-lib' on his part). "Five Easy Pieces" is in the 'Top 5' of my all-time favorite movies; & Jack is my all-time favorite actor! He delivers lines better than anyone - puts his 'stamp' on them every time -- & that voice of his is so distinct! I could never forget the line from this scene: "I'm getting away from things that get bad if I stay -- auspicious beginnings, ya know what I mean?"
his red jacket reminds me of something!!
Jack...A true master of the craft!
LEGEND
This movie is so good
Excellent observation. I think you're right on the money.
Haven't seen enough of his latter-day performances to agree, but I know what you mean. I might add that his performance in Antonioni's THE PASSENGER was appealingly self-effacing.
yet another scene sliced into a Stunt Rock Song glad to know what movie it came from!
It is not complicated why family members become estranged from one another. Human nature is a pain in the you know what. People would do much better to love and respect one another instead of all the negative character and personality traits we show one another over time. Loving and respecting one another over the long term is easier said than done. Things like selfishness, termperament, bossiness, stubborness, anger, criticizing, judging, jealousy, and manipulation get in the way. It is sad!
He's never been an actor...I never felt I'm watching a movie ....NEVER ! HE IS A FREE MAN ! GENIUS !
my favorite scene in cinema
Brilliant acting Jack.