Lane 1974

The late 1960s and 1970s saw the rise of the counterculture movement. Gone were the conventions society expected from its citizens, and in their place was a liberation of ideas, sexuality and beliefs. But that's not to say this era of peace, love and understanding was without its faults. (Charles Manson was practically the antithesis of the original concept.)

S.J. Chiro's Lane 1974 follows the latter situation. Lane (Sophia Mitri Schloss) is content with some aspects of her present situation. She gets to drift from place to place with her mother Hallelujah (Katherine Moennig) and younger siblings but she wants a sense of stability in her life as well. But will she be able to find it?

Chiro was also familiar with commune life, adding a touch of authenticity to Lane 1974. And boy, she does not glamorize the lifestyle. It was more than living freely and by your own rules. Chiro shows how it was more or less a struggle to get by with little money and sometimes less food.

And because of her performance in Lane 1974, there's certain potential for Schloss making herself known. Her Lane maintains a better sense of order for her siblings than her mother ever could but at the same time she yearns for her own sense of being. What does life expect of Lane?

Lane 1974 is a coming-of-age tale set in a time of perpetual movement. Through Chiro's vision and Schloss' execution, it proves to be a reversal of what the media is prone to depict the hippie movement as. And, more importantly, it shows how the children inevitably born in this time of free love were affected. (And boy, sometimes the results weren't pretty.)

My Rating: ****1/2