Steppenwolf (1974)

This adaptation of Hermann Hesse's 1927 novel is one of the most ambitious films ever made. The book (which became the bible of the hippie movement) is a dense, mystical journey across the spiritual/animal duality of man. Many believed that filming it was impossible. Having watched Fred Haines's film, many still do. But Steppenwolf has rightly become a cult classic.

Max Von Sydow plays Harry Haller, a 48-year-old intellectual writer who's pondered himself into a state of despair. He knows that half of him belongs in the ordered, bourgeois society of 1920s Basle, contemplating matters spiritual. But there's another side to him, a wild lupine force that demands to be out wandering the Steppes. He wants to "pull down idols, seduce little girls, dynamite the established order". The only problem is, Harry hasn't the gumption to act on this urge. He decides that if things don't change, he'll kill himself on his fiftieth birthday.

Almost immediately he encounters enigmatic Hermine (Sada), an androgynous prostitute who introduces him to the decadent, sensual delights of the city's nightlife. The writer is plied with drugs from pusher Pablo (Clémenti) and tutored in the joy of sex by pretty young courtesan Maria (Romanelli). But has he let go enough to win entry into the mysterious Magic Theatre,with its promise of total enlightenment? Source: