Bikes in Film: Bikes of Wrath
Well, someone didn't get the memo; there were a couple of those high director's chairs set up down in front, but no one to sit in them. I commented, only half jokingly that, after all Australia is a heck of a long way to travel for a short Q&A session. Actually, I have no clue where the mix up occurred, the flyer said Cameron Ford was going to be there, but wasn't. Really, though, it didn't matter; I was there for the film, not whatever other insight might have been gained from a few questions and answers.
Last night, at the Laemmle Claremont 5, was a special one-night only screening of the documentary film The Bikes of Wrath. Taking as their inspiration John Steinbeck's novel the Grapes of Wrath, a group of five men from Australia, traveled by bike from Oklahoma to California in 2015 along the route made famous by Steinbeck's Joad family, not to mention the hundreds of thousands of migrants from Oklahoma, and Arkansas, during the Great Depression.
Just from the description I could see that the film had three things in its favor - bikes, history, and John Steinbeck. It did not disappoint.
Connecting. That is the one word I thought of. At the beginning of the film the five young men were asked to give a one word response that they thought their upcoming endeavor would mean to them. Had I been asked that question at that time, I would have said connecting. Connecting to an America that some would say does not exist any more, one of basic goodness and generosity, but one that came forth at many turns of the road being travelled. Connecting past to present; after all the hostility that the Oklahoma migrants met upon reaching California in the 1930s, is not so different from the hostility faced by migrants from Mexico and Central America today. Connecting with one of the most well-known pieces of American literature. Connecting with people oceans apart. Connecting with people generations apart.
I may not have taken the journey with the five, but I could see what it meant to them, in the interactions with the people they met along the way, those who helped them, and those they helped in turn (stopping to help a schizophrenic man "walking to his death" along a highway in New Mexico stops me in my train of thought two hours later).
This was no high budget, highly polished, Hollywood production and, probably better for it. I could see this film being made as affirmation of an accomplishment; these were not seasoned cycle tourists on their latest long-haul adventure. But it is just as much, maybe more, a film of social commentary, a discovery of the people who make up the United States, both the characters and the every-day-Joe's just trying to do their un-glorified best. Seek it out, and if you find it, don't hesitate, just go. I believe there have been similar one-night-stands in the LA area, most recently in Glendale for instance, so there may be more. There is still hope - hope that you can see this film, and hope for America both.
Last night, at the Laemmle Claremont 5, was a special one-night only screening of the documentary film The Bikes of Wrath. Taking as their inspiration John Steinbeck's novel the Grapes of Wrath, a group of five men from Australia, traveled by bike from Oklahoma to California in 2015 along the route made famous by Steinbeck's Joad family, not to mention the hundreds of thousands of migrants from Oklahoma, and Arkansas, during the Great Depression.
Just from the description I could see that the film had three things in its favor - bikes, history, and John Steinbeck. It did not disappoint.
Connecting. That is the one word I thought of. At the beginning of the film the five young men were asked to give a one word response that they thought their upcoming endeavor would mean to them. Had I been asked that question at that time, I would have said connecting. Connecting to an America that some would say does not exist any more, one of basic goodness and generosity, but one that came forth at many turns of the road being travelled. Connecting past to present; after all the hostility that the Oklahoma migrants met upon reaching California in the 1930s, is not so different from the hostility faced by migrants from Mexico and Central America today. Connecting with one of the most well-known pieces of American literature. Connecting with people oceans apart. Connecting with people generations apart.
I may not have taken the journey with the five, but I could see what it meant to them, in the interactions with the people they met along the way, those who helped them, and those they helped in turn (stopping to help a schizophrenic man "walking to his death" along a highway in New Mexico stops me in my train of thought two hours later).
This was no high budget, highly polished, Hollywood production and, probably better for it. I could see this film being made as affirmation of an accomplishment; these were not seasoned cycle tourists on their latest long-haul adventure. But it is just as much, maybe more, a film of social commentary, a discovery of the people who make up the United States, both the characters and the every-day-Joe's just trying to do their un-glorified best. Seek it out, and if you find it, don't hesitate, just go. I believe there have been similar one-night-stands in the LA area, most recently in Glendale for instance, so there may be more. There is still hope - hope that you can see this film, and hope for America both.
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