"Happiness and peace are one:" "The purpose of all humanity" "But the path to peace and happiness is little known." "It's a belief followed by this tribe of hippies in New York," "A group of people like those found in London, Paris..." "Hippies are descendants of the Beatniks." "They dance, sing, have long hair and wear strange clothes." "Above all, they rebel against a society that doesn't accept them." "There are millions of hippies today." "But, in youth revolts around the world today there is a new phenomenon:" "The phenomenon of hallucinogens a violent medium used to escape reality." "For some, an extravagant curiosity." "For others, it's a religious medium:" "It's a psychedelic movement, an expansion of the mind." "One of the tribe writes;" "'We are glad'" "Acid." "Delirium of the Senses" "Based on the book:" "LSD the Paradise at 5 Dollars." "The images in this film are real,the people are real." "The facts have been collected from newspaper reports." "00:04:13,860 -- 00:04:17,861 Acid: this is what the American hippies call it." "It means 'Acid' or LSD:" "Diethylamide lysergic acid." "It's the most famous of the hallucinogens." "It's use has defined the psychedelic generation." "It is a tool of protest amongst the youth." "Faces from the protest in New York." "In the village..." "An area made famous by Jazz and then the Beatniks." "Today, it's a centre for hippies, and the protest movement." "The free men." "The youth say there's a contradiction between what society promises, and what it's actually doing." "They say our society is insincere and lazy." "So they protest; in their beliefs, their dress with their famous slogans written on buttons, on flyers..." "Expressing themselves with a particular symbiology." "Sometimes, protest becomes an evasion of reality..." "So, the youth turn to hallucinogens." "In the neuropsychology unit in Princeton college, New Jersey...." "We spoke to Prof. Henry Osmond." "I think that, for the first time, the Cartesian man is becoming a real possibility." "I think people today are turning away from the notion that from birth till death we're just numbers." "This possibility attracts people who want to express themselves." "But don't be surprised that there are others who oppose these ideas." "Expanding individuality to oppose this process of mechanisation." "Interestingly, the psychedelic generation aren't hostile." "In their opposition, they don't seek to destroy the machine..." "What they object to is being a part of this mechanised state and we cannot readily condemn this point of view." "The youth believe hallucinogens make their lives more diverse..." "So, it's harder to classify them within the 'system'..." "Consequently, they are more likely to stay out of it." "At Bellevue hospital, the president of the commission for drugs in New York Dr. Donald Lorrier, spoke to us about LSD." "I think LSD is a manifestation of the rebellion in young people." "There are three reasons why people take a drug like LSD:" "Those who have taken it once and become hooked have pre-existing problems." "People who are uninterested in anything else." "Those who are disaffected by society, who choose to rebel." "This is one reason." "The second, is that many school kids, around 50%, smoke mild hallucinogens like marijuana." "Having had this experience they turn to LSD and other more powerful stimulants." "The third, are those who have taken LSD and become missionaries persuading others to try." "In summary, LSD is a worrying phenomenon within our society." "Acid is cheap and it's hard to control." "Only a few micrograms on a sugar cube, or piece of paper, for one dose." "Or, as they say, one 'trip'." "The Village Voice is the most popular paper amongst the non-conforming youth." "Here, we met Paola Miller." "Paola, what is the purpose of this youth rebellion?" "How do we link this movement with hallucinogenic drugs?" "Two and a half million Americans have taken LSD." "According to the youth, LSD enables a person to overcome the barriers we are conditioned to and explore our individuality." "This is why acid is used in a wide variety of places..." "Perhaps out of a need for evasion." "The phenomenon has deep roots..." "The society of consumption, of a self serving exhorts a sweet tyranny which is exciting to many, but not all agree with its method of conditioning and the youth rebel." "Pessimism?" "Maybe... Following Paola, we entered into the world of LSD..." "Here, in New York, we searched for the most important stories..." "This is Shelley, a noted photo model working around Madison Avenue..." "One of the faces in our story." "Shelley is also a student..." "Every morning she goes to Washington Square on her way to university..." "But this time it's different; she had a strange experience the previous night..." "Shelley celebrated her twentieth birthday with some friends..." "Ursula, one of her class-mates and the rich daughter of a southern oil baron couldn't make it to the party, so she sent her a cake as a present..." "The sugar in the cake contained LSD but none of them knew this at the time..." "It was meant to be a joke." "It didn't take long for them to feel its effect." "Fortunately, the effects were mild and Shelley was released later." "Was it really LSD?" "It's illegal, you don't have the right." "Get these photographers out of here." "Just a comment?" "I won't be making any comment, I've already called a lawyer." "A lawyer will be here soon." "These three were arrested recently in a noted restaurant in Brooklyn..." "It was an entertaining, but also quite significant, case." "...we have to check areas around the universities." "Gentlemen, please come with me, the captain wants something cleared up." "Lawyer Green." "I'll take care of it, let's go." "Another three martini's, we'll be back soon Victor." "Shortly after, Green, one of the most noted lawyers in New York paid the $210,000 bail bond." "The police found 2kg of LSD in their car..." "The street value was in the thousands." "Hey, Victor, we're back." "I didn't think it would be that easy!" "That really was fun." "Don't worry about it." "These were prepared earlier." "But how did they know?" "No, take it away." "To our business." "Cheers." "This is Frankie Russo, he manages a bowling alley on the west side." "Sal Martin, a former pilot." "A few months ago he was in the papers:" "He was caught with his plane full of marijuana." "James Burton, known in the business as 'Burt' he's involved with the nightclub circuit, and striptease clubs." "I heard the way to achieve an orgasm is to sleep with the right man, but who?" "Me!" "Hello, Nick." "Hi, Sal." "Is the boss upstairs?" "Yes, he's waiting for you." "Do you know who talked?" "Some ideas, I'm looking around." "Will it take long?" "We'll see, my friends weren't impressed." "There's something new in the drug scene..." "Two million students are taking acid..." "The more they try to ban it, the more popular it gets..." "I'm with you Burton, but I wouldn't want to mix in..." "Well, you know me;" "I don't like to take risks..." "If, for example, you asked me to hijack a plane and kidnap the president of Guatemala and then drop him off on the roof of this building, I'd be all for it but I don't like violence!" "In this world it's either kill or be killed." "Let's get back on topic, we need to find out about LSD..." "Hang out with the kids, you get me?" "Okay guys, we've finished." "George, I'll meet you at the show." "Okay, see you tonight." "Hi Josh, everything okay?" "Hi Patricia, how's the casting going?" "Really well." "I brought you a poster..." "This is Helen, she's acting in my new comedy." "The decoration here is very original." "Yes, it's been a success..." "What's it like working in Patricia's comedy?" "It's great fun!" "'Ideals in a can' will be a success, after Macbeth people will be talking about it!" "Where's Nicky?" "I thought he'd be here this afternoon." "He left a few minutes ago." "I'll try and catch up with him." "Goodbye, Josh." "See you on opening night." "Forgive me, Nicky!" "Forget about today..." "You know I hate it when you're with other women." "See..." "Anything that gets in the way of my freedom hurts me..." "It hurts me!" "I'm getting tired of your ways..." "You can't make me decide." "Your possessive instincts offend me." "Try to understand, it's just different..." "It's me who should listen, wanting to belong to you..." "I'm not being possessive, it's just my need for you and nothing else." "One evening, Paola was invited to a party in a large hotel on Park Avenue..." "It was in Eddie's apartment, a friend of hers..." "From that night on, Paola becomes the subject of one of our stories." "Friends, let's have a toast for the new vice president of the company..." "Eddie Stone." "One of our youngest exponents in the financial sector." "A champion for tomorrow." "It's incredible someone so young is the vice president of such a large company." "Paola!" "Thanks for coming." "How could I miss it?" "Since we met I'm curious to know how much of the kid is left in today's vice president!" "Yesterday I met tomorrow's man from last year..." "He's a tramp who hangs around the Bowery." "You haven't met my ex have you?" "We've been together for four years..." "It's a record!" "It's a shame he's always travelling, that's why we divorced..." "You don't know how happy I am that you've met." "According to you, who is the most important man in the world today?" "The man who serves me coffee in the morning." "Who would you invest in?" "Mine." "What do you think about charitable causes?" "Better than causes that aren't." "Original!" "What cigarettes do you prefer?" "The ones I don't smoke." "Which do you prefer, the Wall Street Journal or Esquire?" "I read Snoopy." "Do you play any sports?" "Only the elevator, the most relaxing one." "There's a lot of gossip about you and Ms. Huxley of Richmond?" "What a great slogan..." "'A man of today, for a great fortune from the old America.'" "What do you say, Mr. Stone?" "Go and talk to her in Richmond." "Excuse me." "It's from London, the office." "There's less noise in there." "Excuse me." "Hello?" "Put the call from London through." "There's no call." "I understand, thank you." "You haven't changed much, you're probably different at work..." "I wanted to get you away from all that hassle." "This party is boring, why don't we leave?" "I brought my friends from the village, the most formidable group around!" "Come over here!" "Come in, come in." "I've had a great idea!" "We'll all dance the fireball!" "Can we just leave?" "It's better." "Remember, whoever puts out the flame is eliminated." ""1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, that's the time of day..."" ""All good children go to heaven, so some people say..."" ""Tinker tailor, soldier, sailor, wish upon a star..."" ""Just don't tell me not to play with fire!"" ""Never tell me not to play with fire..."" ""Fireball, fireball..."" ""Fireball, fireball..."" ""Fireball, fireball..."" ""Fireball, fireball..."" ""Fireball, fireball..."" ""Fireball, fireball..."" ""Fireball, fireball..."" "Where do you want to go?" "I want you to decide tonight." "Then I've got a surprise for you, perhaps you'll see me differently..." "This is the centre of my business..." "Over two thousand people work underneath these bright lights and I give them their orders." "It's strange..." "To get up here most people work their way up, floor by floor..." "Most only get half way, but it feels like I've taken the elevator." "This is my room, my small empire." "It's an impressive empire!" "To think that not so long ago you were still studying." "You remind of someone returning to the scene of the crime." "Perhaps you've killed yourself in this office?" "Perhaps I shouldn't have brought you here?" "No, don't say that..." "I always used to admire you when we were at school..." "You were so so great!" "It's hard to remain ourselves in the real world..." "Compromising with each day, perhaps that's what changed you?" "I don't know..." "Perhaps I'm looking for something I've missed out on." "To be, or not to be..." "Rebel or conform?" "This is the problem!" "Is it so noble to follow the heavy imposition of false ideals?" "To submit to a swathe of hypocrisy..." "Or go away from the power that sustains him, even if it means death!" "Die?" "And why?" "It's so simple..." "Just change the car once a year, buy frozen food from the supermarket..." "Believe in all those prefabricated ideals, and be robbed of your liberty..." "Synthetic progress, and artificial faith." "Die, sleep..." "Sleep?" "Dream, perhaps..." "This is the point..." "Stop with the conditioning and say;" "enough with these offences against truth!" "Against personality!" "Enough with the prejudices of imposition." "We won't just fit in to the chain that we call society..." "We won't be influenced by the stock exchange..." "We won't fall into the abyss of economic depression." "Fear will make us feel more alive, and noble ideals will be pulverised and tinned, ready for distribution to the brainwashed masses..." "Ideals for everyone;" "'False ideals in a can!" "'" "You know, lately, I've been thinking about how great we are together." "What are you talking about?" "About us two together." "Can I really make you happy?" "Isn't this happiness?" "Are you so sure?" "Listen..." "Commercial programs, television, songs, sport, is that also happiness?" "I bet that in one of those houses, behind a window they're making love, watching an ad for the latest model refrigerator." "When saw each other again recently..." "I thought I could find myself with you..." "But it hasn't turned out like that maybe I never will." "I've always refused to take LSD." "Yes, I know." "As an observer of this phenomenon I never imagined I'd be involved in it but now it's about my life." "With LSD we've cured grave cases of alcoholism and schizophrenia..." "Whether this therapy can be used to cure sexual inhibitions with positive results, or help men perform better, is unknown..." "Others remain positive, claiming LSD has positive mystical effects like Harry Allen." "What I feel inside me is different, it's hard to be precise..." "A necessity to reach an effective solitude, freezes before a physiological desire..." "Distortions like this aren't rare, they derive from physiological factors and childhood traumas, that lay dormant in the body forever while our conscience has forgotten them." "In my case..." "It could be something that's broken up in me..." "Very slowly, as I distanced myself from my family..." "From my mother!" "LSD can find in the individual your conscience and real truth, and not only in the physiological sense..." "But also how you are attracted to women." "Your skin feels like it was born today." "The wind..." "It's cold..." "So cold!" "No, it's my mother..." "Annie..." "Annie!" "So much time..." "I was so close to her." "Eddie." "It was all dark..." "Since always." "Then..." "Red, red!" "The light..." "The cold air..." "Cold!" "My mother!" "It hurt..." "Like my life, red!" "Eddie?" "Eddie?" "Eddie?" "Ursula!" "Tom!" "Welcome back." "Did you know I missed you?" "Want me to drive?" "Yes, thanks." "You know how selfish I am." "Let's go." "Thanks for coming to the airport." "Has anything changed in New York?" "Nothing, it's boring." "Hang around with me." "We know each other too well." "Go to San Francisco then, it's the psychedelic centre of America." "Tell me more." "One trip after another..." "Every night is a happening." "The women in the bars are all topless." "I'll go, but I'm sure I'll get bored." "I need to be shocked, hurt someone..." "I'd like to play with someone's life." "That has to be done on occasions which are presented every hour, every minute, unplanned." "Do you read James Bond?" "Yes, but it's an atomic Bond." "Over two hundred trips, look..." "On each page there's a red dot, each dot is a hit of LSD." "Fantastic, when will we read it?" "I've already started..." "I'm still high." "I hope you're not worried?" "No, a bit of danger excites me." "When will we read it then?" "Tomorrow, if you want..." "With your friends." "Bring Shelley, I wonder what she's like on LSD..." "She might be fun." "How many red dots have you found?" "One for each shot he fires..." "How many for each kiss?" "Two." "Shelley, you'll really enjoy your second trip." "Let's put it here." "We must start with the flame." "There, now it's your turn." "Come on, a little distilled water and it'll taste better." "Hey, can I get some?" "Ursula!" "I'll be your pilot, bon voyage!" "A bit of acid on a piece of James Bond, it surely will be." "Tom..." "What colours can you see?" "It's me, Ursula." "I really miss you." "I'll meet you at mine in half an hour..." "Yes, yes..." "Park Avenue." "I'm telling you, there won't be anyone there." "Bye." "See you soon." "Yuri..." "I don't want to..." "Maybe it's a rainbow?" "No, I don't want to come down from this trip, It scares me..." "Reality..." "Reality!" "I'm scared." "Shelley." "No, Tom reality is grey!" "Grey, grey, grey..." "It's all grey." "I don't have the courage to substitute my daily reality for an artificial paradise." "Every hour..." "My bond with Nicky is like hanging on to a floating log, trying not to drown." "Why don't you try to exist by yourself?" "By yourself, Patricia!" "Find yourself." "I do think about it, and then I say; what's the point?" "If you feel like dreaming one day, here, don't hesitate to go on your trip..." "Detach yourself from him forever, and find yourself." "I'm scared..." "How hard will it be to come back?" "Helen, Nicky is my reality." "Don't hurry, you know what I like." "You infuriate me!" "I could strangle you!" "What's up?" "You aren't so aggressive." "Come closer." "Here..." "Smoke as much as you want, Nicky." "Don't you smoke it?" "No, I'm not interested in marijuana..." "But it helps you." "How?" "To forget your complexes, to forget what you are." "Kiss me!" "More." "You're not used to it, I like it when you're like this..." "But I sense that you're nervous, you don't want to play this game..." "We're both from the south, do you want to play, Nicky?" "Aim at what you want, even me if you want to?" "Come on, shoot." "Marijuana makes your hands shake, that's why I don't smoke it..." "LSD, on the other hand, develops my superiority..." "Don't you want to shoot me?" "Then choose another target..." "That one, for example..." "Be brave!" "It's a portrait of one of my illustrious ancestors..." "Benjamin Perkins from Atlanta, Georgia, he should interest you..." "He kept hundreds of slaves." "Enough!" "Shoot!" "But mind the frame." "It's a special blend made only for my father, in Scotland." "We've known each other for so long but you've never told me who she is." "She's a script writer." "Black?" "No, white." "Does she have blue eyes?" "Brown." "What's her name?" "Patricia, Patricia Adams." "She's crazy about you, but you?" "I don't know, but we've lived together for three years." "She dominates you, right?" "Maybe it's because she's a writer..." "Or because she's white?" "But I'm whiter than her, look at me..." "I've got blue eyes, look at how blonde my hair is..." "Tell me you're crazy for me." "I don't understand you..." "You weren't like this before, what game are you playing tonight?" "It's not an unusual game in New York, it's a game of power, of possession..." "It's not easy to do it Nicky, you've got to be cut out for it..." "They say that in twenty years you'll have a black president..." "But to govern a country, one must first learn how to dominate a white woman..." "Yes, a woman from the south, just like me!" "You won't hit me, just like you didn't hit the other one..." "Just like you couldn't shoot at grandpa Benjamin..." "Come." "Look..." "All children of God have wings, so you say, but I bet you're getting vertigo up here..." "Careful, Nicky." "Be careful of vertigo, it's too high up for you here." "Now slap me, I deserve it." "I'll still stay with you, but not here Nicky..." "Only in your home." "In the home where you live with her." "Patricia..." "Patricia..." "This is..." "Ursula." "Ursula?" "She's of no importance I am free." "I'm flying high." "She's tripping hard, I know the effects." "Look, Patricia, even Nicky can fly." "High!" "No..." "No!" "Crows can't fly above the clouds!" "Go, Patricia." "What are you trying to do?" "Nothing, she's trying to escape from you and I'm not stopping her." "What are you trying to do?" "Let go of me." "You can't stop me!" "Now I see what you're really like!" "Liar!" "Let me go." "Go on Patricia, don't be scared!" "Go on!" "Fly!" "Only you can fly!" "Fly..." "Fly!" "Dirty negro!" "The afternoon papers carried the announcement of Patricia's suicide..." "Nicky gave himself up." "...more dangerous than LSD." "The dangers are immense..." "In this hospital, Belle View Hospital, in the last eighteen months we've seen more than one hundred and thirty young adults, average age, twenty two with psychosis brought on by LSD." "Their rate of recovery varies enormously..." "In San Francisco, one hospital sees ten to twenty people a week with an average ago of sixteen." "All with psychosis brought on by LSD" "There are two reactions; the first is an acute reaction..." "The second is longer term toxic damage." "Regarding the acute reaction, there are two consequences..." "One requires a longer stay in hospital, the other often leads to suicide..." "Hence the growing suicide rate..." "There have also been cases of self-mutilation..." "In California, a youth who had taken LSD, looked at himself in the mirror and said "Christ has suffered, why shouldn't I?"" "Went in to the bathroom and slashed his throat and both wrists." "The next day, we went to see a psychedelic show with Paola..." "The venue was called 'The Underground"..." "It seemed to symbolise the entire underground psychedelic movement." "We are against a society that us youth didn't create or accept." "That's anarchy." "Call it what you want..." "We may be anarchists, but we aren't dropping bombs on each other..." "It's a velvet revolution." "Paola." "All of New York is asking why you resigned from Tilley investments?" "I've got no comment." "Someone on a $60,000 salary must have their reasons for quitting?" "What will you do now?" "Exist." "We hadn't seen Paola since that night..." "It seemed like we were destined not to meet again..." "Then, one day at our hotel..." "Hello?" "Hello?" "Oh!" "It's you Paola." "Remember that day at The Underground?" "We'd just gone in, and you'd started filming, when..." "Shortly after, as you know, I met up with Eddie..." "I felt the need to get out, away from all that noise..." "I felt alone." "With a sense of boredom..." "I didn't think you'd get in." "Pessimist?" "Depends on the case." "You see, half a bottle of whiskey is half full to an optimist, but it's half empty to a pessimist." "Where did you pick up this bit of philosophy?" "On the street, I learnt it all there." "That's what happens in Brooklyn..." "College, university, experience." "I was born down there." "Really?" "Yes, Ellis island, in quarantine, right next to the statue of liberty..." "My folks were from Italy." "Back then they put them on Ellis island..." "They became Americans straight away, instead of waiting for years." "On the other hand..." "I was born in the countryside." "Do you know what I used to do as a kid?" "What?" "I used to chase after rainbows." "Why?" "Why?" "Because us girls thought you'd get a man if you could get there." "Sounds tough!" "Did you make it?" "I thought I did, sometimes." "Understood?" "Just live." "You'll feel better, you'll see." "What type of man is he?" "Burton?" "I don't know much about him, he's a bit mysterious if you know what I mean." "Do you remember that day in the village?" "It was the day we met..." "I was doing some 'market research' for Burton..." "But that morning..." "No, I can't tell you." "It's incredible!" "I've known Frankie since we were this high..." "And he would've betrayed me as well!" "That's how it is, and now he's hiding..." "We've got to get him out of the way." "Hi, uncle Nick, how's it going?" "Aren't you playing?" "You know Frankie has always been a loose cannon..." "He's hiding somewhere, tell him I want to see him tomorrow morning." "Is it because I talked?" "The immigration office is chasing after me now..." "If you let me go I'll leave for Mexico today, I promise." "It's your call." "Listen Frankie, I've never ratted on anyone, and I won't start with you..." "But I warn you, don't ever show your face around here!" "Leave today!" "Stop looking for Frankie, he's in Mexico." "Then I'll look for Sal." "You understand what I'm thinking." "What's wrong, Sal?" "Our relationship is over, I don't want any luggage..." "We've got to leave immediately." "No, Paola, it would be a mistake to continue." "It's too dangerous for you." "Sal." "Sal!" "Paola never saw Sal again..." "He disappeared without a trace..." "We thought about his fate..." "Perhaps he got a pair of concrete shoes?" "Shelley, the model from Madison Avenue..." "The student from Washington Square, the last part of our story." "Reality is grey." "Who is it?" "Shelley, it's Tom." "No..." "I don't want to, I can't." "If you're still high we can trip together." "Attention, attention!" "There's Dick from Los Angeles..." "He's a wizard dressed in plastic!" "And this is Beverly painted in a psychedelic tapestry;" "You're a supersonic venus!" "Borne out of a splendid hallucination!" "Guys, let's catch up with the news..." "One paper each, underneath the classifieds you'll find a venus!" "She had fallen down suddenly." "Violence, excitement..." "Escape from reality..." "Psychosis of our times..." "Wait until society is dissatisfied with its well-being..." "It's a common story."