00:00:30

 

(off) Michael Madsen:

Dennis didn’t die, he escaped.

Dennis Hopper and the gas mask,

Dennis Hopper painting,

Dennis Hopper writing,

Dennis Hopper taking pictures, and

Dennis Hopper doing just about anything.

All on the run, one way or another.

I miss you always, my brother. My friend.

You rest in peace in the hands of the almighty God.

 

00:01:23

 

Dave Stewart: I can play a feeling of Dennis... right? (plays guitar)

Dennis’ feeling was all like this… you can’t really hear with this one… you know what I mean, it’s like... the big... (plays guitar)

 

00:02:04

 

Michael Madsen: He was ready to go, man. He was like „You know what, I'm ready, that's it.“

 

00:02:14

 

Julian Schnabel: He was a great witness and participant in a lot of important moments in American history.

 

00:02:26

 

Anton Corbijn: He had something dangerous about him that's made him very interesting to me.

 

00:02:36

 

Diane Kruger: He would have rather died than not live the way he lived.

 

00:02:49

 

Michael Madsen: He was an Uneasy Rider, yeah. He was an Easy Rider... he was an uneasy Easy Rider. (laughs) An Easy Rider that was uneasy (laughs). It wasn’t easy to be an Easy Rider. (laughs)

 

DENNIS HOPPER

UNEASY RIDER

 

00:03:19

 

Dennis Hopper (Rilke):

There is here no measuring with time, no year matters, and ten years are nothing. Being an artist means, not reckoning and counting, but ripening like the tree which does not force its sap and stands confident in the storms of spring without the fear that after them may come no summer.  It does come.  But it comes only to the patient, who are there as though eternity lay before them, so unconcernedly still and wide.  I learn it daily, I learn it with pain to which I am grateful:  patience is everything!

 

00:04:15

 

Satya Della Manitou: Often times Dennis and I would spend hours together without speaking to each other because after 45 years we knew what we were thinking. And we didn’t have to do a lot of talking. I pointed things out to him, he pointed things out to me but we really didn’t do a lot of conversation.

 

04:06

 

Satya Della Manitou: I always used to tease Dennis Hopper as a hayseed, that is, he came from the flat lands of Kansas, from the agricultural part of America, not the cultural part, not the sophisticated, civilized… raised pinky part of Hollywood and western civilisation.

 

00:05:00

 

Joe Pytka: Well there's an interesting parallel, if you go to Kansas, you live in Kansas, and you have no, you look around, all you see is this horizon. The fact that you get somewhere, and you can achieve that from that upbringing, you kind of, it's hard to let go of that. And especially with all the indulgences he had.

 

00:05:22

 

Harry Dean Stanton: Dennis was very prolific. His photography, and his poetry, and his sculpting…

 

00:05:35

 

Dennis Hopper: I think it comes from a very unhappy childhood. Wanting to… not getting enough approval from the house, from the home, having to look for it in other places, having the drive to wanna be something, wanna be somebody but really not having the education because of the schooling to be able to do anything, but perhaps play sports, fight a bull, race a car or be an actor.

 

00:06:13

 

Alex Cox: He was the Shakespeare kid from Dodge City. How am I gonna get outta here? Acting. I'm gonna be an actor.   

 

00:06:28

 

Frank Gehry: I mean obviously the guy was curious about the world and took the time to study it and to learn about it.

 

00:06:37

 

Joe Pytka: But he was jut like a… child. I can’t say it in any other way, it’s amazing. He had a wide-eyed looked like this, he had that look in his eyes that… he discovered the world for the first time every day.

 

Anton Corbijn: When I was doing this film on James Dean and Dennis Stock recently, I encountered a lot of images from „Rebel Without A Cause“ with Dennis Hopper in the picture, a very young looking Dennis Hopper.

 

 

Rebel Without A Cause

 

Dennis Hopper: What are we gonna do with him?

 

Corey Allen: Oh, don't worry, I'll figure out what we are going to do with him.

 

Dennis Hopper: Okay

 

00:07:27

 

Wim Wenders: Und wenn man sich den Film anguckt und sich mal die Mühe gibt, nicht auf James Dean zu gucken sondern immer nur auf Dennis zu gucken, weil er kommt in vielen Szene vor, aber eher so in der Menge der ganzen Freunde von James Dean. Egal wovon die Szene gehandelt hat, er hat eigentlich nur Augen und Ohr für James Dean gehabt und hat ihn richtig studiert und war voll begeistert von ihm und auch kindlich hingerissen. Wie ein kleiner Junge ist er eigentlich, der eigentlich seinen tollen, großen Freund bewundert.  

 

Rebel Without A Cause

 

Corey Allen: You ever been in a chickie-run?

 

James Dean: Yeah, that's all I ever do.

 

00:08:03

 

Jean-Christophe Ammann: Der James Dean starb ja 1955 in einem Autounfall. Und da hat Dennis Hopper furchtbar gelitten. Er hat den Mann als Freund wirklich geliebt.

 

00:08:22

 

Satya Della Manitou: He thought he was the best actor in the world until he met James Dean. Then, after James Dean died, he knew that he was the best actor in the world.

 

00:08:32

 

Dennis Hopper: At 21 I was dropped from my contract at Warner Bros. because I was considered „too difficult to work with“, I been infected with James Dean and I was blackballed by the studios. 

 

00:08:49

 

James Hosney: I don't think Hollywood can cope with actors, much less directors that have their own vision.

 

00:09:00

 

Dennis Hopper: Okay, Scene one, Take one, each is for Hollywood. Action!

 

00:09:06

 

Julian Schnabel: He represented freedom and rebellion and the outsider and that's kind of a big topic, that he was rebelling against the ordinary. Against the word „no“. If he said he couldn't do it, he tried.

 

00:09:35

 

Todd Columbo: I can remember „Easy Rider“ when it was first being talked about, and how it built within the community I was in, huge, huge interest in something, that was as revolutionary as „Easy Rider“.

 

Easy Rider

 

Dennis Hopper: All we represent to them, man, is somebody that needs a haircut.

 

Peter Fonda: Oh no. What you represent to them, is freedom.

 

Dennis Hopper: What the hell is wrong with freedom, when that’s what it’s all about?

 

Peter Fonda: Oh yeah, that’s right, that’s what it’s all about alright.

 

 

00:10:07

 

Wim Wenders: Das Amerika-Bild aus dem Film war natürlich gefundenes Fressen für uns 68er und das ist auch in  Amerika so ne Gegenkultur gab, hat uns natürlich sehr gefreut. Der Film hatte viele Folgen gehabt, unter anderem die Art und Weise, wie Dennis und Peter, wie die beiden mit der Musik umgegangen sind war ja damals auch revolutionär.

 

00:10:42

 

Dennis Hopper: If you look at the acid trip in „Easy Rider“, it's very quick and very much like, well like commercials are these days, not like they were then, because I went a little further, I pushed it a little further than I'd seen it.

 

Easy Rider

 

… I’m gonna die! I’m gonna die!

I did it. I did it. Do you understand?

 

00:11:06

 

Julian Schnabel: Its' like a piece of Jazz, that you're watching. That stuff's not written. That stuff is felt, I mean, when you see that scene on LSD in the cemetery, that's brilliant and that's what Dennis did.

 

Easy Rider

 

… I know it. I know you. I know you.

 

00:11:31

 

Ed Ruscha: The drug culture was beginning to roll into town and the world was really aware of that and this movie was so simple in it's direct approach to addressing drugs and so, yeah, the movie was a trip.

 

00:11:57

 

Jeffrey Deitch: This was our introduction to the center of counter-culture thinking.

 

00:12:22

 

Michael Sedal: You will see in small areas, like towns in Mexico, the counter culture still holds on. Where you won’t find it in mainstream America. And a lot of people end up living here, for that.

 

00:12:50

 

Waldry Mondragon: He's right here in our backyard and every now and then we get on our bikes and we sit there by him and sound our bikes there for him, and let him know that we’re still riding, we’re around.

 

Ray Trojillo: (?)

 

Waldry Mondragon: (?)

 

00:13:19

 

Steve Belgrad: Dennis Hopper Day just ?? like a sea in Taos. And of all the people that showed up to ride, and the screening of „Easy Rider“, the fact that Patricia Arquette is here… it means a lot to me, and it means a lot to, you know, the people that loved Dennis.

 

00:13:44

Robby Romero: So it was a little rough last year, and if it's washed out now, we decided to go a different route, so we're gonna take Movery Hill out to the highway, across the gorge bridge, we'll meet there and then we'll go from there.

 

00:14:33

 

Wim Wenders: „Easy Rider“ war natürlich der Knaller und nach diesem ziemlichen Wahnsinnserfolg kam da halt nix nach, ne. „Last Movie“ war von Anfang an irgendwie ziemlich unter einem bösen Stern, was auch sein kann dass der böse Stern vielleicht Dennis auch selbst war und dass er zuviel gekokst hatte damals.

 

00:15:00

 

Dennis Hopper (Rilke): Ask yourself in the stillest moment of your night:  must I write? Delve into yourself for a deep answer.  And if this should be affirmative, if you may meet this earnest question with a strong and simple "I must," then build your life according to this necessity.

 

00:15:32

 

Paul McCarthy: Two or three film accounts I've read where they say „What is the worst film that's ever been made?“ and a few times I've seen the Hopper film. In my book, it's one of the most interesting. There was this story of the film being made in this village, the population of the village remakes the film, but when they remake the film, they make the cameras and so on, but then they actually use real guns to shoot each other, where in the Hollywood film, the actors come, they come to the village, they shoot the film and of course they use prop guns and that part of the film was really, like, that was pretty, I thought that was really interesting.

 

00:16:30

 

Alex Cox: I thought it was marvelous. I thought it was a very sophisticated film, the obvious direction he should have gone in after „Easy Rider“, more complicated than „Easy Rider“, a better script, more complicated characters, much better story, editing fantastic.

 

00:16:56

 

Wim Wenders: Der Film war, das konnte man an der Arbeitskopie sehen, ziemlich kaputtgeschnitten worden, und da gibt es ja auch Legenden, wie lange er daran geschnitten hat und dass es eigentlich auch er selbst war, und die Verfassung in der er war, der den Film irgendwie auch selbst zu Tode geschnitten hatte.

 

00:17:17

 

James Hosney: When you're so close to a movie, you're in the movie, you wrote it, you directed it, how do you get any kind of distance, you know. So you keep editing, you show it to friends, they don't like this, this one doesn't like that, you reedit and you keep editing and editing and editing.

 

00:17:46

 

Todd Columbo: There was a Hollywood editor, a friend of mine, Davis Burlatsky, who put the film together and basically built the different sequences. And then, his ideas and Dennises clashed and one evening, it was just like something out of a movie, I got called to Dennises house and I was asked „Can you finish this movie?“ And I said yeah, I think I can“ and so that's how I came about and then what we did is we polished the different sequences and brought it from 5, 6 hours down to a movie.

 

00:18:35

 

Todd Columbo: There was one instance where they were pressuring him to bring the movie back before it was finished, and so he, I don't know if he called, (?) „The film's been stolen, they came in with masks and tied us all up and took the film away“. So, everybody knew that didn't happen, but it proved for the moment to reduce the pressure.

 

00:19:09

 

The Last Movie

 

Director: I wanna thank the cast and the crew for a hell of a lot of wonderful cooperation. I enjoyed making this picture and I knew it was difficult in this damn rugged location. God bless all of you, I see you back in Hollywood. 

 

00:19:22

 

James Hosney: I went to the opening night, filled with a lot UCLA film students from that period. People hated the movie. And it could be, because when you're expecting so much, here is a movie that took so long to make, this person who's transgressive, sensitive, associated with a movie that, by that point, is a cult movie and then you get „The last Movie“, you don't know what to do.

 

00:20:04

 

Satya Della Manitou: The critics were dazzled and confused. I think he was victimized by that, the fact, that Dennis Hopper was willing to go the extra step. The extra mile to make a film that was so radically different, so unlike conventional Hollywood pulp, if you will, that he overstepped his balance in that, he painted out of the frame.

 

00:20:50

 

Dennis Hopper (Rilke): We are solitary. We may delude ourselves and act as though this were not so. That is all. But how much better it is to realize that we are so; yes, to begin by assuming it. We shall indeed turn dizzy then, for all points that our eyes are been accustomed to rest on are taken away from us, there is nothing near anymore, and everything is infinitely far. A person removed from his own room and, almost without preparation and transition, and set up on the height of a great mountain range, would feel something of the sort.

 

00:21:44

 

Ed Ruscha: He began to feel like the public was beginning to recognize him and it made him nervous and made him paranoid. And so he kind of like had to get out of Hollywood, he had to get away from all of that and Taos was like a perfect place for him then.

 

00:22:11

 

Jeremy Thomas: Yeah in the early seventies it was much more outlaw sort of place. And it's been very commercialized since, but Dennis was one of the free spirits, with of course, Mabel Dodge and Frida Kahlo and various others were there, it was an artists community. For a long time. And Dennis entered it and gave another feeling to it.

 

00:22:37

 

Todd Columbo: Yeah, we did a lot of hiking, arrowhead hunting, but he wasn't one that picked up a lot of stuff, he was more, I think he was just absorbing the fact that we were walking through history, through a natural history museum, a living museum, I think that that was a facette.

 

00:23:16

 

Ed Ruscha: I think he shared a lot of the indians’ beliefs in history and so he was really, he investigated that, he really did, yeah.

 

00:23:37

 

Wim Wenders: ja, kann man ja schon sagen, die Spiritualität der Indianer, auch bei ihren Zeremonien, auch auf ihren Glauben und auf ihre Weise, die Welt zu sehen, das hat ihn sehr beeindruckt. Aber das war dann manchmal auch wiederum mit Drogen verbunden und mit allen möglichen Trips, und da kann man ja auch, wenn man so will, spirituelle Erfahrung drauf haben, und das war sein Ding.

 

00:24:07

 

Alex Cox: In Taos he found mysticism, a sense of the indians, of what’s preceded, of what’s there now, so I think that in a lot of ways, he found some real residence and significance for himself in Taos.

 

00:24:44

 

Satya Della Manitou: Well, he was an icon. So, when he came, he was welcomed on an equal basis, unlike Hollywood, where movie stars have a class distinction. They are above the pedestrians. But not here. .

 

00:25:18

 

 

Satya Della Manitou: Yeah we would just run into each other on parties and have fun

 

Al Sutherland: There was a great party, remember the one at.. That's where I met you, actually

 

Satya Della Manitou: Was a really cool party.

 

Al Sutherland: Satya was hanging from these rafters, that was the first time I saw him. He's like hanging from these fucking rafters, I said „Who is this guy“ (laughing)

 

00:25:42

 

Satya Della Manitou: My girlfriend at the time, was reciting a poem and Dennis Hopper opened his mouth while she was giving the poem and I said „You have to have artistic respect Dennis, shut that Hollywood mouth. Let her talk. You know. And, you know, he did. Cause everybody was the same there.

 

00:26:15

 

Jeremy Thomas: He had a fantastic life there and very, sort of special American dream, the counter culture dream.

 

00:26:25

 

Ed Ruscha: Maybe he said: „Look, I don't wanna look glamorous here, I'll be this other kind of character.“

 

00:26:50

 

Michael Madsen: I remember him reading „If“ Rudyard Kipling, I saw him do it live

 

00:27:00

 

Stephen Dorff: You know, Dennis, one time, there was a TV-Show, the Johnny Cash Show, you

know, the musician had a talk show for a few years

 

00:27:06

 

Michael Madsen: It was on the Johnny Cash Show, exactly. Exactly. Exactly, yeah, forgot that.

 

00:27:10

 

Stephen Dorff: Johnny says „I think you have something you wanna share, Dennis, right?“ In that voice, Johnny Cash. He gets up there, and Dennis like just, it's like three minutes of the most incredible performance ever, I mean, it's really worth watching if you've never seen it.

 

00:27:27

 

The Johnny Cash Show

 

Dennis Hopper:

If you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

But make allowance for their doubting too;

Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,

Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,

And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream—but not make dreams your master;

 

00:28:11

 

Michael Madsen: I mean he knew the whole thing, word for word, it was insane. It's a really long poem. And he knew it perfectly. And wow, you know, that says a lot about him, that he, not only did he know it, but he knew what it was about. He understood the meaning behind it.

 

00:28:27

 

The Johnny Cash Show

 

Dennis Hopper:

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds’ worth of distant run

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it

And—which is more—you’lre gonna be a man, my son!

 

00:28:53

 

Satya Della Manitou: That's for you, Dennis. The sun came out just for Dennis. It did, look! In the center of the cyclone here, cyclonic action surrounds us, but we remain tranquilo.

 

00:29:32

 

Frank Gehry: And he was rough, too, the whole period he was in Taos with guns and stuff, he was scary.

 

00:29:46

 

Ed Rusha: I visited him, stayed with him up in Taos, this was like 1972 and we went shooting guns, and he has these automatic weapons, and we went off and did that, and I just felt like „Boy, this is hard, I never do anything like this“ and yet Dennis wanted to do it, you know, he wanted to go off in the countryside and shoot these guns off, so that's what we did.

 

00:30:38

 

Satya Della Manitou: They try to victimize icons like Dennis, though. It happened all the time. Like, the IRS got Dennis, you know, the Internal Revenue Service. That's what they're called, the IRS. Dennis got in trouble with the whole alphabet, the FBI, the CIA, the IRS, you name it, any part of the alphabet Dennis got in trouble with.

 

00:31:32

 

Satya Della Manitou: Did you get a shot of the jail? Dennis was one of the most prominent residents, there it is, now. But I got him out, 10 minutes argue, I wouldn't allow him to be detained.

 

00:32:02

 

Dennis Hopper (Rilke): And even if you were in some prison the walls of which let none of the sounds of the world come to your senses – would you not then still have your childhood, that precious, kingly possession, that treasure-house of memories?

 

00:32:32

 

Jeremy Thomas: Well, I met Dennis probably in 1972 or 3, when I was going to produce my first film in Australia about an outlaw.

And he wanted to play the part in this film and Daniel Morgan was a character from history, he was an outlaw, a Robin Hood sort of character, and Dennis empathized with this character.

Dennis arrived in Sydney, Australia with nothing. „Where is your luggage, Dennis?“ „I don't have any, man.“ „What about your clothes?“ „You're supplying them“ „What“ „Yeah, man“ And that was Dennis, you know. And he just arrived in a pair of Levi’s, no socks, checked shirt and a passport. „I'm ready.“ And by the second night he was there, he was in jail.

 

Mad Dog Morgan

 

00:34:05

 

Jeremy Thomas: We had to get him out of jail and get him out of town to get him away from the dogs and the bars and the fantastic stuff cause he was trying to become Daniel Morgan.

 

Mad Dog Morgan

 

00:34:14

 

Dennis Hopper: It's your money or your life and it's in that order.

 

37:25:00

 

Jeremy Thomas: „It's your money or your life in that order.“ And he liked to do that, to anybody, and he would maybe like a couple of bourbon, but he was holding them up in his mind.

 

Mad Dog Morgan

 

Dennis Hopper: Stand and deliver Sir!

 

Jeremy Thomas: What's happening, that there was no hotel left in this town, nobody accepted Dennis in the hotel room.

 

Mad Dog Morgan

 

00:34:40

 

Dennis Hopper: What does that mean?

 

Protagonist: There's a reward for you, dead or alive. That's what it means.

 

Jeremy Thomas: The hotel room was a bit like a rock band on the road. And when the managers would look into a room which was somehow being damaged, they just said „But why?“. And I found it very difficult to explain that he was having a good time, you know.

Dennis left after the shooting in Australia going to Daniel Morgan’s grave and pouring Whiskey over it and being stopped by the police having the highest alcohol rating ever. Last time I saw Dennis, he left Australia in the same set as he arrived. With nothing. He arrived in the Levi's suit and he left with the levi's suit and the passport. That was it.

 

00:35:40

 

Wim Wenders: Ich hab Dennis kennengelernt 1975, dann hab ich ihm auch die Rolle angeboten, den Cowboy, der durch Paris zog. Und dann hab ich ihn erstmal lange wieder nicht gesehen. Zwischendurch hat er dann mit Coppola in den Philippinen „Apocalypse Now“ gedreht.

 

00:36:09

 

Ed Ruscha: „Apocalypse Now“, there was a stroke of brilliance there, that, it was very much like him in his kind of stream of consciousness, understanding and expressing a character.

 

Apocalypse Now

 

Dennis Hopper: I mean, what are they gonna say man, when he's gone, huh? 'Cause he dies when it dies, man, when it dies, he dies! What are they gonna say about him? What? That was a kind man? He was a wise man? He had plans? He had wisdom? Bullshit, man!

 

00:36:43

 

Diane Kruger: He was telling me on „Apocalypse Now!“ he'd get so high, that he wandered off into the jungle and nobody could find him for ten days. He was in the jungle for ten days and then showed back up, and he says he has no recollection of what happened. I mean, who survives ten days in the jungle?!

 

00:37:13

 

Wim Wenders: Also so freundlich wie er war, als wir uns kennengelernt haben, so anders war das Bild als er dann schließlich zum Set kam. High as a kite. Wusste auch nich mehr wer ich bin oder warum er überhaupt in Hamburg war, also er war jenseits von Gut und Böse. Mit seinem Cowboy Hut natürlich, aber in kurzen Hosen und so'n Hawaii-Hemd an, und um den Hals drei Kameras. Was ich nicht wusste, dass er so in der Rolle verschwunden war, dass er in der Rolle nach Hamburg geflogen ist und auch genauso zugedröhnt war wie man ihn im Film dann sieht.

 

00:38:00

 

Julian Schnabel: He was brilliant in „The American Friend“, I think that might be, maybe that's my favourite performance of his. He's great in Wim's movie.

 

00:38:22

 

Wim Wenders: Die ersten Sachen, die wir gedreht haben, waren mit Bruno Ganz in dessen Werkstatt.

 

The American Friend

 

Dennis Hopper: I like this room.

 

00:38:33

 

Wim Wenders: Und natürlich hat Dennis seine Dialoge nicht auswendig lernen können, da hat er die Birne nicht für gehabt, aber er wusste ungefähr worum es ging, dann hat der sich so durchgemogelt und seine Rolle mehr oder weniger improvisiert. Für Bruno war das die Hölle, weil er ist kein Amerikaner und konnte so auf amerikanisch nicht ohne weiteres so mithalten, und dann kam auf einmal dieser Irre, der andere Texte spricht und Bruno dann aus dem Konzept geworfen hat und da war Bruno auch ziemlich sauer und hat mich so zur Seite genommen und hat gesagt „Wie soll ich denn mit dem spielen? Das geht doch gar nicht.“

 

The American Friend

00:39:06

 

Bruno Ganz: What do you make?

 

Dennis Hopper: I make money. And I travel a lot.

 

00:39:12

 

Wim Wenders: Da war der erste Tag ziemlich daneben und dann, und Bruno war stinksauer, dann haben wir es am zweiten Tag nochmal versucht, nochmal mit Dennis geredet, so, hier, mit dem Dialog, kann man sich nicht doch bisschen mehr dran halten und so, und dann kam wieder ganz was anderes raus und dann kam von Bruno als Antwort, zack, mitten in der Einstellung, die Faust in Dennis' Gesicht.

 

00:39:42

 

Julian Schnabel: That was a beautiful relationship that he had with Bruno Ganz.

 

Wim Wenders: Blotch! Und Dennis, ohne eine kleine Zehntelsekunde Wartezeit, hat ihn sofort zurückgehauen. Hat ihn auf die Nase gehauen und Brunos Nase blutete, dann haben wir aufgehört zu drehen, und dann sind die beiden abgehauen. Am nächsten Morgen waren sie auch noch nich da, dann sind wir halt wieder zum Set in die Werkstatt und dann kamen die beiden um die Ecke, Arm in Arm, sturzbesoffen. Und dann ging der Film eigentlich los. Dann war Dennis wie ausgewechselt, hat sich Mühe gegeben zumindest nur noch eine Droge  zu nehmen, nämlich dann Alkohol, hat dann weitergetrunken, aber hat dann zumindest nix anderes mehr eingeworfen.

 

00:40:44

 

Satya Della Manitou: This gangster from the Reeperbahn, Wolfgang von Hamburg, he insisted on taking us to the airport, „No I insist“, you know. And so, he was showering us with gifts.

 

White Star

 

Dennis Hopper: Put that away, seatbelt on (?)

 

Protagonist: Man I am zoned

 

Dennis Hopper: Zoned, take these, take these, take these!

 

00:41:06

 

Satya Della Manitou: And he makes a fool of himself, by driving his car, erratically, right in front of the concords, where the leading terminal of Hamburg airport

 

White Star

 

Dennis Hopper: That's exactly right, exactly, exactly.

 

Satya Della Manitou: And then he took out a bunch of coke and poured in on the dashboard under the windshield, so that anybody passing by would have no problem noticing it.

 

00:41:34

 

White Star

 

Dennis Hopper: Shut up, shut up, gives you that mysterious touch, you know what I mean.

 

Satya Della Manitou: It’s one thing to be in the Reeperbahn but not at the airport, cause that’s the frontier. Anything goes there, you know, cops can do whatever they want.

Dennis Hopper: The white star, oh fuck.

 

00:41:52

 

Roland Klick: Dennis ist entweder abwesend oder er ist im Überdruck, das ist so seine Spannweite. Und den normalen Dennis, mit dem man einfach so plaudern kann gibt’s eigentlich gar nicht.

 

White Star

 

Dennis Hopper: Do you know (?) press conference, get in the car

 

Protagonist: Why did you get this car?

 

Dennis Hopper: Publicity.

 

00:42:13

 

Roland Klick: Naja sicher war er auch ein Arschloch. Mit seiner Koks-Manie und der sich daraus herleitenden überziehen, Dinge ständig überziehen, sich nicht einordnen können, wie gesagt, wir haben keinen Drehplan gehabt, sondern Dennis war der Drehplan, wenn der konnte, wurde die Kamera angeschaltet. Andere, die schon vor der Kamera standen, mussten dann verschwinden damit Dennis seinen Take mache kann. Insofern war er auch ein Arschloch.

 

00:42:37

 

White Star

 

Dennis: (?) I said get outta here, (?) hell.

Don't let that fool you. See this, okay, 5 minutes, 5 minutes, right.

 

00:42:52

 

Roland Klick: Aber im Grunde genommen, kann ich über die ganzen Dreharbeiten eigentlich nur sagen, dass ich eigentlich glücklich war, dass ich diese Rolle an ihn gegeben hatte, dadurch hatten wir auch Drehzeit gespart weil es eigentlich sehr schnell ging. Er ist halt der geborene Schauspieler, und wenn er den Text richtig einatmen kann, dann klappt es sofort. Also er war kein Rollenauswendiglerner, der dann seinen Text aufsagt, sondern er hat es verstanden und dann hat er gegeben und ich hab es auch immer genommen, was er gegeben hat.

 

00:43:19

 

White Star

 

Dennis Hopper: Oh, man, (?)

…

But it was rock music

 

Roland Klick: Ich hab ihn nochmal getroffen n Hollywood und hab ihm den Film gebracht. Und da hat er gesagt, das sei seine beste Rolle. Hat er gesagt! Ich will ihm da nicht widersprechen, ich könnte vielleicht anderer Meinung sein, aber ist für mich natürlich auch ne Freude, wenn jemand wie er sowas sagt. 

 

00:43:58

 

Joe Pytka: Burroughs had written a book called „Junkie“ and I was curious about whether they have ever written a screenplay. So I checked with Dennis and the time, said „ Do you ever remember working with Burroughs on the script for „Junkie“, he said „It was the seventies, I don't remember the seventies.“

 

00:44:18

 

Isabel Coixet: He didn't really had fun at that time. And I was like „Come on, you mean all these drugs, LSD, Cocaine, you didn't have like, a little fun?“ And he was like „No, not really.“ And that was very shocking for me.

 

00:44:35

 

Alex Cox: He'd come to this decision and realized, like, you know, I'm not getting where I wanna be, you know I'm kind of caught in this trap of alcohol and cocaine. And I have to get out of not one, but both. And he did! How remarkable.

 

00:44:50

 

Dennis Hopper: I tried everything. Booze, coke, nothing works. There is only one honorable solution: The Roof.

 

Dennis Hopper (Rilke):

Everything is gestation and then bringing forth. To let each impression and each germ of a feeling come to completion wholly in itself, in the dark, in the inexpressible, the unconscious, beyond reach of one's own intelligence, and await with deep humility and patience the birth-hour of a new clarity: that alone is living the artist's life.

 

00:46:00

 

Jean-Christophe Ammann: Jeder geht seinen Weg. Und er musste einfach herausfinden, wie mach ich das weiter. Und der aggressive Alkohol- und Drogenkonsum war eine Art Säuberung, um wieder zu lernen, neugierig zu sein und staunen zu können.

 

00:46:25

 

Satya Della Manitou: He was practically a zombie and we brought him to „New Beginnings“, the rehab center and he emerged successfully, never to have another drink for the last 23 years of his life and I think, that's when he spread out as a creative artist.

 

00:46:55

 

Wim Wenders: Dennis nüchtern und bei Sinnen war schon jemand ganz liebevolles, zärtliches, freundliches, und der andere Dennis war, der andere Dennis, wehe, wenn sie losgelassen, war schon das krasse Gegenteil davon. Ich kenne kaum jemand, der zwei so verschiedene Gesichter hatte wie Dennis.

 

Blue Velvet

 

00:47:13

 

Dennis Hopper: Don’t you fucking look at me!

 

00:47:04

 

Isabella Rossellini: It was provocative? I don’t know. If really, it is difficult for me to comment on a film that was written and directed by David. You know, because my responsibility is not the film, it was the character.

 

Blue Velvet

 

Isabella Rossellini: But the most touching to me was Dennis Hopper, one day, I remember, we were doing the scene where Dennis Hopper comes to hear my character sing. And he is holding a piece of blue velvet rope, and that’s a cue for the character played by Kyle McLachlan to understand that there is something connecting us. So I was singing away, that was what I had to do, and I looked down at Dennis, and Dennis was crying. And I thought, “Wow, he’s an incredible actor!” He, the character he played, loved Dorothy. But he was a violent, he was angry at himself, he should not love a woman. And that’s why he beat her up. But in the woman that I was on stage and slightly removed, he could give in to it, and cried, because he was in love with her, and the rage of saying, “I don’t wanna be in love with any woman, I’m a tough guy.” I thought that was an incredible actor’s choice. It wasn’t written. He did it.

 

Blue Velvet

 

00:48:43

 

Isabella Rossellini: So actors can add. And of course David Lynch took it.

 

00:48:58

 

Anton Corbijn: Dennis, I photographed him once, in the mid-nineties, in Los Angeles, in a hotel room. Like an angry looking guy. But because of „Blue Velvet“, you know, that was really what I was looking for him, I loved that edginess that he had in this film. It’s a master performance.

 

00:49:20

 

Anton Corbijn: I think it's hard to beat the intensity that he had in „Blue Velvet“. I don't think I've ever seen that equaled in a still picture.

 

Anton Corbijn: I photographed him in Bottrop in Germany with some trees that were wrapped up for the winter and it was a surrealistic kind of sight, but it was part of my fake paparazzi pictures, so it was just to create a mystery, really. And then the picture I liked best out of those was, the moment when I opened the camera slightly too early, there was light falling into it. And that  kind of accident made that picture the best of the shoot.

 

00:50:13

 

Alex Cox: I worked with Dennis on a film that I directed in Spain, where he came for a day, and he and Grace Jones had a scene together. In the desert in Armenia. Which was great, and he came out thoroughly charming and delightful. Everybody came to the set, I think there were like 6 actors called that day, like 25 actors came because they all just wanted to see Dennis, watch him.

 

00:50:39

 

Straight to Hell

 

Dennis Hopper: I'm looking for a room.

 

Protagonist: There are no rooms.

 

Dennis Hopper: No rooms. Well where do you sleep?

 

Protagonist: In the shed, behind the petrol station.

 

Grace Jones: I ain't sleeping in no shed.

 

Dennis Hopper: Of course not, darling.

 

00:50:08

 

Alex Cox: Boy, I just let him go, really. I mean, the thing is, if actors know, if they're good actors, I think they know the character better than the director does.

 

Straight to Hell

 

Dennis Hopper: It doesn't look like you're sleeping in a shed to me. Hahaha.

 

00:51:13

 

Alex Cox: When Dennis burst out laughing, when all these guys come to him with guns and stuff, they come through the window, that's perfect. I wouldn't have done that, it wouldn't have occurred to me, but it was perfect, you know. He knows what to do, he's his character.

 

Straight to Hell

 

Dennis Hopper: I wanna give you my card, I.G. Farben, Ranch Style Homes. Helping people help themselves to have a home.

 

00:51:41

 

Satya Della Manitou: If he was working on a B-movie with a super low budget or a giant project, Dennis gave 100 percent. Artistically, emotionally, spiritually and performance-wise.

 

00:52:07

 

Alex Cox: „Backtrack“ was really interesting, because it began in Venice, California, where Dennis lived, and he made it about that Venice artists community. So he would have, like he had Bob Dylan playing Laddie Dill, the Venice artist. And it was quite funny really, it was quite comical, because Dylan, again, is an amazing musician, but not necessarily an actor. And so Dylan would like, we would do the takes, and Dylan would go „Uuh, I haven’t seen Laddie Dill in a long time…“ And Dennis goes, „Cut, cut, you’re Laddie Dill!“ „Oh, yeah, right right right“ Another take „Uuh, I haven’t seen Laddie Dill in a long time.“ „Cut, cut, you’re Laddie Dill!“ „Oh, right, yeah yeah yeah“...

 

Backtrack

 

00:52:08

 

Bob Dylan: I haven't seen Anne Benton in a long time. Her forms aren't exactly simpatico. Who did you say you were working for?

 

Dennis Hopper: Oh I work for Bank of America.

 

00:53:00

 

Alex Cox: It was entertaining to see Dennis in the middle, recreate the Venice artist community with rock’n’rollers.

 

 

00:53:10

 

Alex Cox: So Venice California was not only a great community for artists and aspirant artists, it was also the only community on the Pacific Coast in Los Angeles where minorities could afford to live. The criminal element, gangsters, so it was a real mix, really interesting.

I rode the bus off Lincoln Boulevard, got off at the bus stop, walked down Indiana Avenue to Dennis’ house, hung out with him a couple of hours, walk back – and I find, and I walk back and I’m shadowed by young gangsters…

And the thing is, I’m also carrying my bags, they don’t realize this, but in my bags is this  really expensive camera equipment. And I’m thinking, „Oh man! These guys are gonna, are these guys gonna heist me for my camera equipment now? And I saved 50 cents by riding the bus!“ You know. And I sit down at the bus stop to wait for the bus to come, one of them comes up to me and he goes „Dennis Hopper man! Yeah!“

 

00:54:23

 

Michael Madsen: I’m just in L.A. I was working at a gas station in Beverly Hills, and I really wanted to meet Dennis Hopper. And I would tried to find out where he lived. And somebody told me he lived in Venice somewhere. Then I rode there on my motorcycle, I had a '74 sportster and I rode there and I found this big, mellow/metal house with this big fence around it and I said „That's where Dennis Hopper lives“.  And I went

around the back of it and there was a big gate and it was open. And I rode in, and there was a garage and I stopped the bike and I heard his voice „Hey, man“. And I looked up and there he was in the window, he was looking down, he goes „What are you doing, man?“ And I go „Well I came to meet you“ And he goes „ That's usually closed, man, that gate's usually closed, man“ And I go „Well, I’m sorry, I'm not on your property“ „You are on my property, man“ And so I, you know, I backed it out, you know, and I said „I'm sorry, man“ and he goes „Cool, cool, man“ And I said „Okay“ you know, and then he was watching me and I rode away, you know. And that was when I actually first met him.

 

00:55:40

 

Michael Madsen: Have you seen „Hell ride“?

 

The first thing I said when I got to the set, I go „Where is my bike?“ Ironically, two days later when he started I heard someone say „Dennis is here“ and I said „Oh, man“ So I went outside and there he was, and he goes „Where is my bike, man?“ and I said „ That's what I said!“ He started laughing, he goes „Yeah I wanna ride it, man“ I go „Yeah“ And the transport guys were really worried, like „Oh, isn't he like, old, you know, he's

super old, isn't he like 80 years old?“ And I was like „Guys, you gotta let him go out and ride this thing. Guys, no, man“.

 

Hell Ride

 

00:56:20

 

Eric Balfour: How long have you had that bike?

 

Dennis Hopper: Since 1976.

Follow me if you can!

 

00:56:31

 

Michael Madsen: Everyone's going „Oh my god, he's riding it“ And of course he was, I mean he knows how to ride a motorcycle.

I love that movie so much. A lot of people think, it's a silly film but I love that movie cause

he's in it.

 

00:56:53

 

Hell Ride

 

Dennis Hopper: The Gent

 

Michael Madsen: That's me.

 

Dennis Hopper: Pistolero would like to chat with you and Comanche.

 

Michael Madsen: Well thanks for the latest breaking news there, Wolf Blitzer.

 

00:57:03

 

Tod Davies: I do have a story that I wanna tell, about Dennis. Because it really meant a lot to me when it made me really understand how much pressure he was under to be Dennis. Which was, when we were working on Hot Spot, we went to a County Fair in Texas. And we drank a lot of ice tea, and I needed to use the bathroom, and they were looking at something, so I just raced off to use the bathroom. And I come back, and people are circling like sharks. Dennis is looking at the people. And they’re just not saying anything, they’re just circling him, staring at him. And I break through, and I go, “What’s going on?!”

and Dennis grabs me and we go walking, and he says, “Don’t ever do that again.”

And I said, “Don’t ever do what?!” And he said, “Don’t ever leave me alone in a public

place ever again. I have to keep moving.”

 

00:58:13

 

Dennis Hopper (Rilke): Art too is only a way of living. Therefore save yourself from these general themes and seek those which your own everyday life offers you; describe your sorrows and desires, passing thoughts and believe in some sort of beauty—describe all these with loving, quiet, humble sincerity, and use, to express yourself, the things in your own environment, the image from your dreams, and the object of your memory.

 

00:59:00

 

Julian Schnabel: You know, when I was gonna make „Basquiat“, the first film, that I directed, he was the first person that said, he would be in the movie. And the fact, that Dennis was in the movie, other actors figured, okay, we'll give Julian a chance, we'll see if he can do it or not.

 

Basquiat

 

Photographer: All the painters please. All the painters. Mr. Bischofberger please.

 

00:59:25

 

Jeffrey Deitch: Dennis’ role as the art dealer Bruno Bischofberger is so brilliant, so spot-on, I would say, that Dennis is even better than Bruno in life.

 

Basquiat

 

Dennis Hopper: Yeah just have them drop you at Mr. Chow’s. We’ll all be there.

It’s a great show!

 

00:59:20

 

Dennis Hopper: You wanna know how it was playing Burno Bischofberger?

 

Hermann Vaske: Exactly.

 

Dennis Hopper: He wears these knickers, you know, with the socks and the thing, it was very funny, I thought it was very funny. Julian said I was a little like Peter Sellers. It was funny, I had a Swiss accent which I used, you know, „Ja, ja. Buy the painting, ja, wonderful, ja, this is wonderful“ So, more or less like that.

 

Basquiat

 

Dennis Hopper: I mean, this is the one, I absolutely have to have this one. I mean, this is super fantastic. Jean-Michel, I must have it.

 

01:00:16

 

Julian Schnabel: I think what we're talking about is somebody that was authentic and who wasn’t compromised and who, whatever he did, it was true to him. And sometimes, what he did was very very extraordinary.

 

01:01:08

 

Dennis Hopper: Is it art? Or is this art?

 

Dennis Hopper: I like what Marcel Duchamp said about „The artist of the future will be a man, who points his finger and says „That's art“ and it'll be art.

 

Dennis Hopper: I allowed myself to paint, I wanted to take photographs, because I wanted to direct films, I learned not to crop my photographs, I never cropped any of my still photographs, so that I would use the full frame when I would become a director of a film. So I never saw any of these disciplines as being different from the others, I just saw one continuing, to be a way of expressing oneself emotionally.

 

01:01:58

 

Ed Ruscha: I met him through a gallery, Ferus Gallery, here in L.A. He went to Claes Oldenburgs wedding, shot pictures there and he got that great picture of Rauschenberg holding his tongue out.

 

01:02:15

 

Frank Gehry: I think the photographs he took of people, at parties, of Warhol and all the guys, over the years, were quite special. And they been the photos that have documented the period more than anybody, I think.

 

01:03:03

 

Ed Ruscha: You would always see Dennis and he'd have that Nikon around his shoulder and sometimes two, sometimes three Nikons.

 

01:03:20

 

Jean-Christophe Ammann: Wenn er die Leute fotografiert hat, er hat sich eine undenkliche Mühe gegeben, die Künstler so zu fotografieren, wie er sie gespürt hat. Und deshalb sind diese Fotos keine Schnappschüsse, sondern es sind inszenierte, auf die Künstler bezogene Fotos.

 

01:03:53

 

Ed Ruscha: I had done a painting, a big painting called „Radio“, with the word „Radio“ and I believe he saw that and he's taking pictures of his friends, you know and I say „Wow, that’s fine, sure, what do you wanna do?“ And he said „Well I got this idea, let's go down on Santa Monica Boulevard.

And so he said „Just stand there“ and look in the camera and not much direction or anything, just „Look in my camera and be yourself“, something like that, something

really simple. And, you know, he, 5 minutes, he was happy.

 

01:04:00

 

Jean-Christophe Ammann: Insofern ist das „radio service“ ein ganz spezifisches Element auf Ed Ruscha bezogen in diesem Foto.

 

01:04:49

 

Ed Ruscha: So he was shooting lots of film, and he would find things on the street, he would find, like, common things that were on the street, signage, you know, iconography of the streets, of Los Angeles.

 

01:05:13

 

Dennis Hopper: That’s why I’m so drawn to like, graffiti, and these sort of infantile scratches and images on wall, because it’s very much like our life, I mean, we’re here for such a little moment in the whole scheme of things, but we each contribute a little bit to the building block of culture, and we all work in the vineyards of culture.

 

01:05:38

 

Julian Schnabel: He wasn't a guy like Gerhard Richter where painting was what he did and here is these different groups and you can, everything is very very clear. Because he was more of a fluxis artist and I mean, he did extraordinary things. I mean, when he blew himself up in Texas, for example, that was a great performance.

 

01:06:00

 

Jeffrey Deitch: I believe it's called „Life and death on canvas“, where he filmed himself doing this stuntman’s trick.

 

01:06:12

 

Wim Wenders: Es war ne Performance, aber so wie das abgelaufen ist, war das einfach nur der nackte Wahnsinn.

Dass er für die Performance, waren auch alle so zu gedröhnt, sowohl Dennis als auch die Leute, die das gefilmt haben, das war kompletter Wahnsinn…

 

01:06:28

 

Man on footage: Staying all in the same place.

 

 

01:06:39

 

Jeffrey Deitch: Dennis gets in the middle of this circle, is ignited, this tremendous explosion.

 

Man on footage: We’re getting ready.

 

- Explosion -

 

Jeffrey Deitch: I think nobody can possibly survive being in the center of this and here Dennis just walks out.

 

Dennis Hopper on footage: hey man. Woo. Woo! Woo. Woo.

 

Jeffrey Deitch: it also shows kind of the extreme, kind of the craziness of Dennis’ aesthetic during that period.

 

Dennis Hopper on footage: Woo. Woo! Woo. Woo. hey man. How about professional people working huh?!

 

01:07:25

 

Julian Schnabel: It meant a lot to him to have his work shown in an art context.

 

Dean Stockwell: This tonight, I think it's an important event in modern art history cause Dennis’, his life as an artist has encompassed and been woven in, inextricably with a big art movement of the west coast, I mean come on, it's major people we're talking about here. And this, tonight is like a combination of it and the recognition of his works.

 

01:08:37

 

Jeffrey Deitch: The art world can be very stubborn, even cruel, saying „Dennis Hopper, he's an actor, he can't be an artist, he 's not allowed to be an artist“.

 

Julian Schnabel: The world is run by mediocre people. And he didn't really fit in, he didn't fit in one category. And so, he was always an outsider. Which would make him very attractive and at the same time made things difficult for him.

 

01:09:19

 

Dennis Hopper: What is that? Hey, look at that, I'm in business, I just found a piece of post-modern deconstructivist art. Hey, wait a minute. Is he the artist, because he made it or am I the artist because I found it? Or is just Charlie Saatchi the artist because he sells it and sells a fortune from it. If everything is art, then nothing is art. At least, not until somebody wraps a lot of long words around it.

 

01:10:00

 

Ed Rusha: So in that perspective it was very good to see somebody and know somebody like him, that would bridge these different worlds. That someone could come and penetrate these various kinds of roles of the art world. You know, acting, painting, photography, movies, all of this and it was a rare thing to see.

 

01:10:38

 

Dennis Hopper (Rilke): Perhaps it will turn out that you are not called to be an artist. Then take that destiny upon yourself and bear it, its burden and its greatness, without ever asking what reckon pins might come from outside. For the creator must be a world for himself and find everything in himself and in nature, to whom he has attached to himself.

 

01:11:18

 

Bill Roedy: He’s a unique individual. And Dennis Hopper chose film as his primary vehicle to express his creativity. But anyone who knows anything about his life knows that it went in many different directions. He had a keen eye for not only art, but also for photography and also for music.

 

Fire Coming out of Monkey’s Head (Gorillaz)

 

Dennis Hopper: Once upon a time at the foot of a great mountain, there was a town where the people known as the Happy Folk lived. Their existence was a mystery to the rest of the world…

 

Bill Roedy, off: He performed on the Gorillaz album as a music artist. So he was able, uniquely, I think, to express himself in many different ways.

 

01:11:59

 

Dennis Hopper: The mountain called Monkey had spoken. There was only fire, and then – nothing.

 

Bill Roedy: One of his key characteristics is not only to stay curious about life, but also to constantly reinvent himself. And that’s very necessary for creativity. I thinks that’s one reason why he liked U2 so much, because U2 always works hard to reinvent their music.

 

MTV Music Awards 1997

 

Dennis Hopper: Welcome ringside, from Dublin, Ireland, with a record of five MTV Awards and 70 million world wide sales, the undisputed, undefeated heavy weights of pop, the baddest of bad...

 

01:12:34

 

Bill Roedy, off: He used the analogy of being a champion, fighting hard, which is also what Dennis does, as a warrior, and used that to introduce U2 and the fans absolutely loved it.

 

MTV Music Awards 1997

 

Dennis Hopper: U2. Yeah!

 

 

Bill Roedy: It’s unusual for anyone in the creative industry to be able to bridge gaps of different generations. And that’s exactly what Dennis Hopper could do. He did it so successfully. He stayed current.

 

Nike Commercial

 

01:13:06

 

Dennis Hopper: This is Bruce Smith’s shoe, man. Huhu. Wait a minute. This is… this is Rod Woodson’s shoe! 

 

01:13:17

 

Joe Pytka: Stacy Wall wrote these Nike commercials with this strange character, it's like a homeless referee and asked me to shoot some commercials. I was surprised that Dennis wanted to do the spots.

 

Nike Commercial

 

Dennis Hopper: "I'm looking forward to the season like a slug looks forward to the rain."

 

Joe Pytka: First day, it almost went down the toilet. The second commercial was him singing a song, this is my favourite.

 

Nike Commercial

Dennis Hopper: I’m talking about the NFL Season, I’m talking about Brown and Brame(?), Richard White, Steve Young, Arian Foster and players with much longer names, yeah.

 

Joe Pytka: He asked for the teleprompter, and I said „We don't have a teleprompter“ He blew up, said „My agent specifically asked for a teleprompter“ then stormed off into his trailer. I

said „Here it goes, it's over“. So I quickly got some big cards and I started writing the cue card and the assistant director is writing the other half. He came out, he came storming out of the trailer, says „Just throw the stuff away“. Nailed it, 2 or 3 takes, perfect each time. Perfect.

 

Nike Commercial

 

Dennis Hopper: „I’m looking forward to the season and especially the Two-Point Conversion.“

 

01:14:28

 

Julian Schnabel: He was using himself as a guinea pig in whatever shape or form or whatever medium he was using. And sometimes he would hit it, and it would be great, and sometimes he didn’t.

 

01:14:54

 

Diane Kruger: I met Dennis on my very first movie called „The Piano Player“.

 

The Piano Player

 

00:44:57

 

Diane Kruger: Can someone explain to me what this is all about? Am I a prisoner or something?

 

00:45:00

 

Dennis Hopper: Erica. I’ve had to make some very important decisions about my life.

 

Diane Kruger: He was impatient with me because I didn't get things right from the get-go, and then he could see that I was very intimidated and then he finally asked me, like, „How long have you been an actress?“ and I said „Basically, this is it“ and from then on, he really, he taught me everything.

 

The Piano Player

 

Dennis Hopper: Erica, don’t make things so difficult. I may not be a perfect father. But I believe in my own way, I did my best to raise you.

 

01:15:36

 

Diane Kruger: You know, when he liked somebody, he could be generous, he would have given you his last shirt. But he was also a very, you know, he expected a lot from people. If he felt like you were not paying attention or you weren’t good enough for what he saw should be given – he could be harsh.

He didn’t really get along with the director and my other co-star. And you know, he tried to convince the director that the scene between these two actors just wasn’t gonna work and that he should really do a scene where he talked to a goat for ten minutes.

 

The Piano Player

 

Dennis Hopper: Mr. Goat, do I know you? I’m Robert Nile.

 

01:16:21

 

Diane Kruger: And at the end of the day, that’s what happened – he cut the other actor out of the scene and he did the scene with a goat. (laughing)

 

The Piano Player

 

Dennis Hopper: My mother split. You know what I’m saying to you? Do you think my daughter loves me?

 

01:16:38

 

Wim Wenders: Dennis hatte schon immer so, dahinter war schon immer ein ernsthafter Mensch, der aber doch fast zwanghaft auch immer ausreizen musste, was da war.

 

01:17:06

 

Julian Schnabel: And he had to fight, all the time to, kind of, get by. It wasn’t… you know, it was always a trial somehow. You know, there’s a line in this book about van Gogh, where he’s reading one of these rhymes, it says „Is the walking always be uphill?“ and the answer is, yes, it will. „And is it gonna be over soon?“ „No, it’s gonna start early in the morning and it’s gonna last till late at night“. „And will it ever get any better?“ „No, it won’t.“

 

01:17:49

 

Isabel Coixet: I met Dennis many years ago in Barcelona. And I remember, just, you know, because I’m very shy, so, but I thought, „Dennis Hopper is here, you have to tell him how much you admire him“, but then you know, after twenty minutes, he started drinking a lot, and you know, there was these two Japanese sisters, like really young, beautiful girls. That was the end of the conversation, with these two Japanese girls.

 

01:18:29

 

Isabel Coixet: And then, you know, many years after, when we were casting „Elegy“ we had Penelope Cruz, Ben Kingsley and we were looking for someone who is able to face Ben. And I thought about him, you know.

He said „Nobody is offering me roles like this, I love it, it's great, yeah. And also, I have the opportunity to die and I love dying in movies“

 

Elegy

 

Isabel Coixet: I think the shot we did more takes of was when he is dying and they have to kiss. That last grasp for life was that kiss in that movie.

 

01:19:20

 

Elegy

 

00:48:28

 

Ben Kingsley: I owe you.

 

Isabel Coixet: And that scene was painful, because you can see the guy was, you know, he said he loved to die in movies, but it was clearly an exorcism for death in real life.

 

01:20:05

 

Dennis Hopper (Rilke): That is at bottom the only courage that is demanded of us: to have courage for the most strange, the most singular and the most inexplicable that we may encounter. That mankind in this sense has been cowardly has done life endlessly harm; the experiences that are called „visions“, the whole so-called "spirit-world," death, all those things that are so closely akin to us.

 

Palermo Shooting

 

01:20:44

 

Dennis Hopper: Death is an arrow from the future, flying towards you.

 

01:20:50

 

Wim Wenders: De facto waren wir beide, als wie „Der amerikanische Freund“ gedreht haben, genau halb so alt wie als wir „Palermo Shooting“ gedreht haben, das war also, haben wir uns beide ausgerechnet, die Hälfte unsere Lebens damals. Und Dennis hat da den Tod gespielt als Figur.

 

01:21:09

 

Palermo Shooting

 

Dennis Hopper: That is the fear of death. The fear of life is the fear of death

 

Wim Wenders: Er katte keine Ahnung, und ich genauso wenig, dass er dem so nahe war, dieser Figur,  und dass er, ein paar Monate später dann, Krebs diagnostiziert bekam, das wusste er damals nicht.

 

Palermo Shooting

 

Dennis Hopper: I’m the opening. I’m the connecting door, not the dead end! I’m the only way out.

 

01:21:45

 

Wim Wenders: Danach haben wir viel telefoniert. Dann war er aber immer so, dass man sich keine Sorgen machen sollte, und dass er, bloß kein Trübsal blasen und so. Also, er wollte nicht, dass man sich jetzt Gott weiß wie Sorgen um ihn macht.

 

01:21:58

 

Frank Gehry: He suffered terribly actually. But he put on a face that didn’t show that.

 

Palermo Shooting

 

Dennis Hopper: Now. take my portrait.

 

01:22:10

 

Michael Madsen: He was ready to go, man. He was like „You know what, I'm ready, that's it.“ You know, at the end, I never saw him seeming to be worried about it. You know? Even at the Star ceremony. I remember he was sitting with Jack Nicholson. And him and Jack were laughing about something. And… I just thought „Wow, I mean, there’s a guy who knows that he’s out of time – but he’s fine with it!“

 

Star Ceremony

 

Woman: John. John. Miss? Miss? Miss!

 

Michael Madsen (off): Ten years before that, I was trying to figure out, „How does a person get a star on the Walk of Fame?“ you know. Even back then I was wondering about it, that it would be cool. And I was like „Man, you know what? They’re never gonna get me one of those fucking things, man. I’m never gonna get a star of the Walk of Fame.“ And Dennis goes, „Haha, me neither man! Yeah, I’ve been trying to get one of those for years man!“ He goes, „I’d have to be dying of cancer to get one of those man!“ And we laughed about it, we thought it was funny. And now man, all those fucking years later, I mean, look at it, that’s exactly what happened. Poor guy is dying and they suddenly decided to give him one. 

 

01:23:27

 

Star Ceremony

 

Mark Canton: By the way, when they said there were 403 stars already on Hollywood Boulevard, it’s hard to believe, that it has taken this long to acknowledge the greatest star of them all. Dennis Hopper is the coolest guy on the planet.

 

Speaker: Ladies and gentleman, we proudly welcome to the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Dennis Hopper!

 

01:24:02

 

Satya Della Manitou: And I was very happy that he got it, he died a few weeks after he got his star.

All deaths are beginnings, not endings. And I like to think that Dennis went to a higher place, and I think he died a fulfilled man.

 

01:24:38

 

Kris Kristofferson: This is for Dennis Hopper: (Singing „The Pilgrim“)

See him wasted on the sidewalk, with his jacket and his jeans,

wearing yesterday’s misfortunes like a smile.

Once he had a future full of money love and dreams,

which he spent like they was going out of style.

And he keeps right on to change, for the better of the worst,

searching for a shrine he’s never found.

Never knowing if believing is a blessing or a curse,

or if the going up was worth the coming down.

He's a poet he's a picker he's a prophet he's a pusher.

He's a pilgrim and a preacher and a problem when he's stoned.

He's a walking contradiction partly truth and partly fiction.

Taking every wrong direction on his lonely way back home.

 

 

01:26:05

 

CREDITS

 

01:28:33

 

+++ END +++