this be one of those film where it be easy to see how some people wouldn not like it . my wife have never see it and and when i just rewatched it last night and i wait until after she go to bed . she might have be amuse by a couple small snippet and but i know she would have have enough within ten minute . head have nothing like a conventional story . the film be firmly mire in the psychedelic era . it could be see a filmic surrealism in a nutshell and or a something of a postmodern acid trip through film genre . if youre not a big fan of those thing psychedelia and surrealism and postmodernism and the acid trip aesthetic ( assume there a difference between them ) and you should probably stay away from this film . on the other hand if you be a fan of that stuff and you need to run out and buy head now if you haven not already . oddly and the film have never receive much respect . that probably have a lot to do with preconception . after all and it do star the monkees micky dolenz and davy jones and michael nesmith and peter tork and the monkees be a musical group of actor put together by producer bob rafelson and bert schneider to be a kid friendly and bubble gummy beatles for a television series . in their era and they have a much respect a and say and menudo and new kid on the block and the spice girl and and so on . a a fellow imdb reviewer rightly note perhaps people in 1968 and think of the monkees a a silly factory make pop band rip off of the beatles and refuse to see ( head ) . the monkees and head have never be quite able to shed that negative public perception . it a shame and because there be a lot of talent and both musically and otherwise and in the monkees . it probably odder that rafelson and who direct here and co produce with schneider and and jack nicholson ( yes and _that_ jack nicholson ) and who write the script and also co produce and decide to take the monkees in this unusual direction . it a if new kid on the block suddenly put out an album equivalent to pink floyd ummagumma ( 1969 ) or atom heart mother ( 1970 ) . in fact and the song in head and write by the monkees and frequent collaborator such a carole king and harry nilsson and have a floyd like quality and somewhere between the syd barrett era and the immediate post barrett era . this be much more prominent than any beatles similarity . some people have complain about the music in the film and but to me and all the song be gem . for that matter and some people dislike barrett era ( or other ) floyd and which be just a difficult for me to empathize with . but what _is_ head about . the basic gist be just that the monkees be take a trip through various film genre there be war scene and adventure scene and horror scene and comedy scene and drama scene and western scene and sci fi scene and romance scene and and on and on . except and in the film reality and this turn out to be happen primarily ( if not exclusively ) on a studio lot . at root and be watch the monkees shoot a film . of course all of the scene in the various genre have something surreal and self referential about them and and they and and individual shot within a scene and tend to lead to one another use dream logic not dissimilar to the monty python television show . a a dream and head tends to vacillate between a good dream and a nightmare and while often be one that would cause you to laugh in your sleep ( something that i frequently do and by the way ) . technically and rafelson use a wide variety of technique to realize the above . there be scene with extensive negative image and there be a lot of very fast cut ( include a great sequence that feature davy jones and tony basil dance alternately in a white and a black room and wear a combination of white and black reverse in each and that occasionally toggle back and forth as quickly a two frame at a time ) and there be a lot of bizarre segue and there be an animated cow mouth and there be odd edit device and and so on . for my money and i wish this stuff wasn not just a relic of the psychedelic era . this be the kind of artistic approach i relish . it seem like a good idea back then and i still think it a good idea . i would like to see film like the life aquatic with steve zissou use ( 2004 ) use these type of extend technique . now that would make that film surreal . interpretationally and some folk who aren not so in tune with the acid trip aesthetic have complain that it basically b. s. to offer meaning for something intend to not have any . i disagree with such a pessimistic or nihilistic view while head be intend to have a lot of meaning ( s ) and and it not just film without conventional plot that have multiple interpretation . nicholson and rafelson and schneider have a lot of interest thing to say about the monkees the film postmodernistically comment on their manufacture status while pop stardom way before pink floyd and head conflates pop stardom and violence and from image of war to image of fan cannibalistically dismantle their idol while and naïve u. s. orient idea of international perception and respect well arm foreigner in a desert surrender to micky dolenz just because he an american and then later they blow up a coke machine ( again in the desert ) for him because he thirsty and can not gain access . the film comment on many other topic from big industry to police and survey and spectatorship ( especially in relation to tragedy ) and and on and on . head be full of idea and appropriately enough and with intelligent and multifaceted thing to say about them . head deserve to be consider a classic it basically shoot for the same vibe a the beatles yellow submarine . both premier in november of 1968 and interestingly enough and and both be intend a something of a summation of the psychedelic aesthetic . yellow submarine wasn not quite successful . head be everything yellow submarine should have be .