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Purple Haze

David Burton Morris’ Purple Haze, 1983. Photo courtesy Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc.

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An homage to Catcher in the Rye set in Minneapolis in the summer of 1968, Purple Haze stars Peter Nelson as an alienated, long-haired Matt Caulfield. Kicked out of Princeton, Caufield returns home to bum around the West Bank with a “chemically dependent” friend. The pair escape their fraught family relationships by going to parties, climbing under bridges on the Mississippi, and hanging out at a friend’s radio station. Amid carefree summer-of-love adventures, the young men must accept and face the constant threat of their impending draft notice. Set to a score that includes Hendrix, Cream, and the Jefferson Airplane. 1982, 35mm, 97 minutes.

Director David Burton Morris and writer/producer Victoria Wozniak in person.

Funding

This program is made possible with the generous support of the Bentson Foundation.

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