Subsequently, Halprin was chosen by Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni for the lead in his second English-language feature, "Zabriskie Point". The film, released in 1970, was a statement on the burgeoning violence in America and the growing rift between the establishment and the counterculture as interpreted through a European sensibility. Following release of the film, with her "Zabriskie Point" co-star Mark Frechette, Halprin briefly joined self-styled guru Mel Lyman, a former member of the Jim Kweskin Jug Band, and his 100-member commune, before leaving in 1970.