Scarecrow. 1973. USA. Directed by Jerry Schatzberg. Screenplay by Garry Michael White. With Gene Hackman, Al Pacino, Eileen Brennan, Richard Lynch. DCP. 112 min.
Scarecrow’s tale of friendship, heartbreak, and trauma via an unlikely friendship between two fugitive hitchhikers (Gene Hackman and Al Pacino, in arguably the best performances of their careers) might be one of the most perfect illustrations of American cinema’s fearless ambitions in the 1970s. Vilmos Zsigmond’s trademark Scope camerawork is magnificent, and Jerry Schatzberg gives his cast ample space to improvise and experiment, capturing the absurd, comic circumstances of a road trip across the country, the sentimental failures of the American dream, and its illusions in the pursuit of happiness.