Purple Haze
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Purple Haze

David Burton Morris’ Purple Haze, 1983. Photo courtesy Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc.

An homage to Catcher in the Rye set in Minneapolis in the summer of 1968, Purple Haze stars Peter Nelson as an alienated, long-haired Matt Caulfield. Kicked out of Princeton, Caufield returns home to bum around the West Bank with a “chemically dependent” friend. The pair escape their fraught family relationships by going to parties, climbing under bridges on the Mississippi, and hanging out at a friend’s radio station. Amid carefree summer-of-love adventures, the young men must accept and face the constant threat of their impending draft notice. Set to a score that includes Hendrix, Cream, and the Jefferson Airplane. 1982, 35mm, 97 minutes.

Director David Burton Morris and writer/producer Victoria Wozniak in person.

Funding

  • This program is made possible with the generous support of the Bentson Foundation.