(New Experimental)
The Nightingale (1084 N. Milwaukee Ave.) - Friday, 8pm
Borrowing both the title and locations from the
iconic 1969 film, the comparisons between James Benning's and Dennis
Hopper's films end there. Following a formula for landscape films that
he's used for some time, Benning's static camera captures elegant
frames, as he loosely follows the same route of Wyatt and Billy through
New Mexico and New Orleans. Each take in this version is timed out to
equal the length of a single scene in the original movie and, with some
notable exceptions, it works to remind one of the energy of the
original, and serve as a comment on contemporary America. Unlike much of
Benning's recent work, the synchronous sound in these long takes is
occasionally supplanted by non-diegetic music--four recent indie rock
tunes by female vocalists--as well as dialogue from the movie. As a mood
and space changer, this works, but it also comes off as canned. Much of
the frustration in a feature-length Benning work comes from the tightly
structured length of each delicate composition, and it can feel that
there is no counterpoint within the rhythm of each shot. Change does
happen, and there is a nice usage of off-screen sound to create
anticipation for cars, trains, and other objects passing through our
scene. Some of these cues result in a lovely payoff, others never
materialize on-screen, and still others happen eventually, but lack the
cathartic impact that was promised. Flaws aside, there is a meditation
on the change in America since Hopper's EASY RIDER was originally
released, a meditation on the lost promise of a mass-underground
movement, and a lament for the derelict in society, both as landscapes
and characters. EASY RIDER will be followed by a screening of a film about Pussy Riot and Voina whose title can't be listed. (2012, 95 min, Digital File) JH
