Bike film

a friend of a friends film shown at paris bff
http://www.paranoid.fr/player,40

i reckon cinematically america is definetly one of the best places

i would love to go to the salt flats

its a shame everything else in that area of america is so fucking shit (besides las vegas)

I like it....nicely different from the usual.

^^ 2nd that. nice to see something different

Liked it: hynoptic feel to it with that haunting piano and washed out colours, combined with the old skool camera. Very emotive

Tune is 'Phillip Glass - Metamorphosis One' BTW. Great album ('Solo Piano')

Nicely shot. I like the old film style, and the colour cast on the salt flats is lovely.

I like it!

Booooooriiiiiing

Philip glass. Brilliant composer.

Good photography too. Dramatic yet calm.

i've wathced this about 3 times now and i still dont understand it, i never was good at interpreting things especially music,

Well here's my take: it's an exercise in perversity. The guy rides himself to halt, merely to place a stone in a stoneless environment, to leave his mark, to give him meaning. Also its bike v car: the flats are an iconic place associated with cars. Flat, smooth, stoneless. You see him cross tyretracks. He rides and rides and then places the stone, that smooth, car-friendly surface disrupted like the way a cyclist 'disrupts' the road

I did a Masters in Film. I have a tendency to over-analyse. Don't judge me

Well here's my take: it's an exercise in perversity. The guy rides himself to halt, merely to place a stone in a stoneless environment, to leave his mark, to give him meaning. Also its bike v car: the flats are an iconic place associated with cars. Flat, smooth, stoneless. You see him cross tyretracks. He rides and rides and then places the stone, that smooth, car-friendly surface disrupted like the way a cyclist 'disrupts' the road

I did a Masters in Film. I have a tendency to over-analyse. Don't judge me

I really like the way this is filmed. There are some beautifully composed shots, e.g. at the beginning when he puts the bike together, in a very gentle, not overbearing way and skilful use of a handheld camera.

I rate the music not at all. This is a completely eventless alibi composition that doesn't do the film justice, IMHO. It just rattles on and pretends to be sophisticated but is actually just a little nothing without ideas. Note that I said IMHO.

As for the meaning, Jimmy, I think you've missed it--I think he pushes himself further each time he goes out on the salt flats, having previously placed stones at shorter distances. Quite a nice, simple observation on the part of the film-maker, nothing earth-shattering. No need to interpret it more, I think.

I really like some of the details of the camerawork to support this interpretation, such that care is taken that as he rides off into the distance, when seen from behind his head is constantly at the level of the horizon (and also where the mountains slope down). He is riding within himself but going further each time. And no, I don't think that's over-interpreting it.

A shame, though, that digitisation always makes little videos like this look so cheap and ugly. Would be nice to see it on film in a proper cinema. Analogue and big screen FTW.

Here's my interpretation : Man rides bike in desert.

there are one or two more stones that he looks down at as he is riding. I think it is simply he is trying to beat himself each time and get to the mountains. It keeps showing him looking at them. Who knows, but I liked it.

Ah I missed the other stones. but I still think what I said applies

there are one or two more stones that he looks down at as he is riding. I think it is simply he is trying to beat himself each time and get to the mountains. It keeps showing him looking at them. Who knows, but I liked it.

Yeah, probably all about pushing yourself harder. Not sure if the flats were used to create a contrast to cars but to dwarf the cyclist on his lonely but personally epic quest so to speak...

Ah I missed the other stones. but I still think what I said applies

But why perversity?

Surely pushing yourself like that, riding that far and placing a rock is a perverse act? There's a clear parallel with him and with what cars have been doing on the salt flats for decades: pursuing speed records, laying dow their own stones for the next one to strive to beat. It talks of obsession, of competitiveness, of (vain) ambition, but which obscure more normal pursuits of subsistence. I think you can call that perverse

Plus I thought at one point, 'suicide' as he begins to struggle. You ride yourself to a standstill in a desert, how are you going to get back? I'm not sure the filmmaker meant to express that, but it does look a self-destructive act

Surely pushing yourself like that, riding that far and placing a rock is a perverse act? There's a clear parallel with him and with what cars have been doing on the salt flats for decades: pursuing speed records, laying dow their own stones for the next one to strive to beat. It talks of obsession, of competitiveness, of (vain) ambition, but which obscure more normal pursuits of subsistence. I think you can call that perverse

Plus I thought at one point, 'suicide' as he begins to struggle. You ride yourself to a standstill in a desert, how are you going to get back? I'm not sure the filmmaker meant to express that, but it does look a self-destructive act

Hm, I can both see the parallel with cars and that someone might see what he's doing as perverse, but I don't think that there is sufficient filmic evidence for perversity, which I therefore think is an over-interpretation. Obsessiveness might have been signalled by many more stones, and stones laid close together, and the ride going on and on, and the rider collapsing from exhaustion. As it is, he looks as if he's going to pull some food and drink from his bag and ride back slowly, perhaps with a tailwind. It wouldn't make sense to think that he risks death there given so little evidence for self-harm. I think he's just pushing himself to train that little bit harder each time.

I don't know, short film-makers in my experience don't tend to come up with over-complicated scripts; they want to make a film, perhaps their first, and push themselves further later. Just laying a stone down in a cultural desert. :)

I don't know, short film-makers in my experience don't tend to come up with over-complicated scripts; they want to make a film, perhaps their first, and push themselves further later. Just laying a stone down in a cultural desert. :)

I agree: I did say I tend toward over-analysis. We studied a lot of Roland Barthes (who is probably out of date now) but his theory of semiotics means that every image contains symbolism and provides a structure of interpretation. I think what you're saying is sufficient and very worthy, but you can go deeper if you are so inclined.

I will counter the perversity element tho: the film very explicitly references the tradition of the salt flats, and mimics its record-breaking past. I think you have to remember that present land-speed attempts are quite iodine compared to the pioneering ones of yesteryear, which are closely associated with the location. These men built machines in their garages, risked life and limb. It was eccentric, it was obsessive and I think describing it as perverse isn't out of place. Given that reference I'll stick with my initial vibe from the film.

Perhaps I am Russel can shed some light on the filmmaker's intent. I'm sure both will be proud they have provoked some debate

We studied a lot of Roland Barthes (who is probably out of date now) but his theory of semiotics means that every image contains symbolism and provides a structure of interpretation.

It only means this if it's true!
And isn't that only a framework for understanding the communication process, regardless of whether we acknowledge it or not?

Hence theory, not law, and yes