Synopsis:
‘Night Ride from LA’ is based on a real car ride at night from downtown LA to the desert near Palm Springs a few years ago. The footage was taken from the car by continually shooting single long exposure photos to document the ride of about two hours without any break. This technique condensed the whole trip to a flickering twirl of time-stretched movements and night light graffiti causing a kind of psychedelic trance. A love letter to the energy and vibe of the Californian way of life.
Directed by Martin Gerigk
Key Cast: Philipp Zdebel, Stephan Sixt
Review written by Victoria Angelique
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The perfect way to describe driving in Los Angeles at night would the film NIGHT RIDE FROM LA. The film feels chaotic with moments of peace interspersed throughout the brief five minutes. Dividing the piece into 3 segments was a great way of capturing the moment of California driving, especially with the soundscape that was included to really feel immersed into the drive.
Martin Gerigk’s two hour drive is sped up in a way that really makes the tone of the film feel like Los Angeles. The use of inverted images of the drive keeps the film entertaining, as it captures what sometimes a long drive can do to the mind. Gerigk seamlessly moves from phase to phase in order to capture both the chaos and peace of driving at night. Lights play with the imagination as cloud cover brings a sense of serenity.
The score captivates the viewer in a way that feels authentic to Los Angeles at night. The combination of a strong percussion with the sounds of the city makes the heart race as if it’s not Gerigk driving, but the audience. It almost feels like a race or adrenaline high that eventually leads to the inevitable mental crash. The soundscape makes the film a perfect marriage between driving in Southern California at night and the vibe of the nightlife atmosphere.
Separating the film into three parts, using vastly different visuals that compliment each other, was a great filmmaking tactic to really draw the audience in to an authentic drive. The chaos followed by a brief moment of peace amongst the tall palm trees only to be thrusted back into city driving makes the final part of mentally crashing makes the film feel complete. Gerigk even managed the feeling of the mind going numb with the Sesame Street like countdown of close-ups of license plate numbers until the film finally came to an abrupt stop.
If someone wants to feel what driving in Southern California is really like, this film would capture the full experience.
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