In 1964, two UC Berkeley graduate students in social economics are about to speak at a symposium of some of their top peers on the ramifications of any conflict with the Communists. Embarrassed by the debacle, the school asks the students to no longer be affiliated with their programs(i.e. they get kicked out). In the wake of a cultural revolution, and the heart of the sixties beginning to form, my two characters decide to take the remainder of their college loan money, and travel the coastline of California until they reach Mexico, in search of an escape from their 'old life'.
Their trip will take them through various actual locations in California, lovingly mocked up to look like the sixties. Through the course of the journey, I want the characters(being played by the actors) to interact with actual people we pull from the street to discuss issues prevalent of the time, or even just shoot a genuine interaction. Simultaneously though, the actors will also have scripted events which drive the narrative. They could possibly meet a variety of 'famous' people of the late 50's-early 70's, and I would even consider part of it taking place in the Vietnam war. Ultimately though, by the third act, the two characters end up in Mexico, have lived this eccentric lifestyle, and are faced with the issue of either returning to the states to live 'comfortably', or to stand up for their 'ideals'. The film is a comedy, a drama, a psychedelic road journey, and a historical critique of the era, the people, and the social movements. By blending fictional narrative when only needed, and streaming the rest of the film together with spontaneous improv interaction ala Borat or Spinal Tap, my hope is to blur the line between documentary and narrative film.
