When Dennis Hopper almost corrupted Peru: “I think he got a priest defrocked”
Having earned the reputation of being Hollywood’s original ‘Hellraiser’, the legacy of Dennis Hopper has as much to do with his cinematic achievements as it has with his antics off-screen. Among the major figures of the New Hollywood movement that completely redefined the future of American cinema, Hopper is still fondly remembered by fans for a multitude of reasons.
Of course, his directorial efforts, such as Easy Rider, which popularised a countercultural identity of American filmmaking, as well as his performances in other masterpieces like Apocalypse Now, are the first things that come to mind when his cinematic impact is examined. However, Hopper was much more than a director or actor. He was a champion of a lifestyle that could only be described as ecstatic insanity, characterised by the pursuit of hedonism with reckless abandon.
When we remember the craziest stories from Hopper’s life, there are almost too many to be documented into a neat timeline. Ranging from the time he snorted a dead woman’s ashes to his search for death in a Mexican jungle, the Easy Rider director proudly developed a notoriety that very few could even attempt to challenge. Even amidst all those incidents, one that stands out is his particularly wild stay in Peru during the 1970s.
For his 1971 drama The Last Movie, which has now become a cult classic, Hopper decided to film in Peru and invited some of his high-profile friends, such as Samuel Fuller and Kris Kristofferson. While the studio was ready to go ahead with the project due to the success of Easy Rider, one piece of information that was conveniently left out of the pitch was that the country had become a major hub of cocaine production and distribution.
In the region where the shooting was taking place, most of the local residents were Catholic conservatives who were shocked by Hopper and his team’s unabashed usage of drugs and participation in sexually liberal events. During a conversation with Uncut, the filmmaker recalled how the production itself had turned into an uncontrollable party.
Hopper revealed: “It was one long sex and drugs orgy. Wherever you looked, there were naked people out of their [expletive] minds. But I wouldn’t say it got in the way. It helped us get the movie done. We might have been drug addicts, but we were drug addicts with a work ethic… The drugs, the drink, the insane sex, they all fuelled our creativity.”
According to Hopper, it was the rampant substance abuse that fuelled his creative drive during the making of The Last Movie. Unfortunately, they ended up causing serious damage to the town they were staying in, as well as the residents, who got caught up in all the mess they created and eventually left behind.
When asked about it, Kristofferson once recalled: “What [Hopper] did was what he was filming. He was filming the corruption of a little town by the movie people, and I mean they ruined the town. I think he got a priest defrocked…”
Even after the shooting ended, the post-production process was marked by significant disruptions due to Hopper’s addiction issues that just could not be curbed. It failed to live up to the expectations that were created by Easy Rider as its initial reception was terrible in comparison, but it has been steadily attracting the attention of film fans in the years that have followed.