Merlins Nose Rec. Marcus Robbin : Last Hippie Standing (D,2002,re.2011)***
Of course everybody has heard of the Goa Trance parties, fewer people have experienced them although when you follow some of the blowers you quickly know where to go to. I never went although I heard talk about it, about the drugs, the flow, about the endless dance trance trip the people are exploring in search, seen from a distance as being some kind of escape in what they call a world of pleasure. Goa is also mostly associated with a kind of music form, sometimes called Goa Trance. I know some shop which claims to sell albums with this style, but I assume it is a lot more associated with psychedelics than with music because most people involved in this scene just want to consume the freedom and their experiences, a free world, so they never buy anything else but the drugs they need to exceed their experiences. The origins of Goa came of course from the place Goa in India. Everybody heard about it how especially in the late 60s, early 70s lots of hippies just went into that direction, finding a place to enjoy life in a more simple and direct way without responsibilities but just finding a place to enjoy just being, with parties now and then every so many periods. What this really means, and what became of it ever since and if this Goa thing still exists is something this documentary starts to reveal. The music of course had become something different. It was psychedelic rock in those days. And it is fast-frequenced electronic-based music these days. Peace, love and living in this bubble seems still to exist, a few small traces are followed. The locals only leave the situation because the additional tourists bring in money as well. The documentary brings us not only back and forward in time, it also brings us to an event in Berlin with one of the DJ’s who is living in GOA. And when they follow some of these old hippies (having become some kind of Saddhu’s) visit Berlin, this gives the documentary suddenly a quiet unexpected direction. It makes no difference for them how to look at the world in another place : they have their Goa trance-like vision, a form of enjoyment they carry with them.
