Five Easy Pieces

Among the most essential themes of the film Five Easy Pieces - and the one which was, for me, the most powerful - is the idea of a generation gap, which the older generation is unwilling to reach across.  Jack Nicholson's character (the younger generation) is struggling to make a life for himself without his father's approval.  He has realized that he does not need that approval, but that does not change the fact that he is suffering from the lack of it.  The Father has never been willing to try to understand his son.  This is beautifully illustrated by the climax of the whole film, when Nicholson's character (Bobby Dupea) enjoys a conversation with his Father, whose stroke induced impairment has - as Bobby observes - made it possible for Bobby's voice to be heard.  Tragically, that same impairment has finally put the Father's approval forever out of reach.  Of course, there is also the famous cafe scene, in which Bobby confronts a waitress who is similarly insensible to Bobby's otherwise reasonable pleas.  Here is the comedic side of an ultimately tragic issue - an issue with which audiences of the 1970s resonated with most readily.