North on Evers

“Practically all of this fascinating road movie by a master framer of landscapes, stretching from the west to the east coast and back again, is not only subtitled but subtitled in handwritten text that moves constantly across the bottom of the frame. Though the procession of shots and the procession of text offer different versions of the same narrative – Benning’s cross-country trip by motorcycle, with many personal stops and one-night stands along the way – they’re rarely in sync or mutually enhancing; sometimes the text precedes the illustration by several minutes, and sometimes the picture comes well before the verbal description … “What finally emerges is an extremely evocative picture of what’s happened and is happening in this country from someone who would like to feel patriotic today but finds patriotism very difficult … Piling on layer after layer seems only natural to an alienated artist seeking to organize a surfeit of memories and experiences so that they speak with a single voice. To make this film Benning had to make the same trip twice. To watch it even once is to be distracted, but in an evocative and resonant manner – to be drawn away from Benning’s travels and alienations and reminded of one’s own.” – Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader, Oct. 2, 1992