Directors: Bill Ross IV, Turner Ross
Writers: Davey Ramsay, Bill Ross IV, Turner Ross
Stars: Tony Aburto, Micah Bunch, Nichole Dukes
Synopsis: Follows 5 teenagers from small-town Oregon who, with high school in the rearview, decide to embark on one last adventure: to make it to a place they’ve never been -the Pacific coast, 500 miles away. Their plan, in full: “F**k it.”
A rapturous odyssey, Gasoline Rainbow boldly reaffirms Bill Ross IV and Turner Ross as American cinema’s most essential boundary-pushers. Their audacious vision flows like an impressionistic reverie, with fledgling teen actors blooming under the siblings’ liberated lens. Unvarnished moments of ennui and revelation unfurl across boundless landscapes, with disembodied vocals soaring in a hypnagogic interplay of sight and luminous sound. This latest provocation cements the Ross duo’s singularly fearless ingenuity, their intrepid artistry deepening with each successive, convention-shattering immersion.
In the quintessential coming-of-age tale woven into the fabric of Americana, Tony Aburto, Micah Bunch, Nichole Dukes, Nathaly Garcia, and Makai Garza stand as the intrepid protagonists poised at the precipice of adulthood. Their academic endeavors behind them, they stand at the crossroads of responsibility and adventure, yearning for one last hurrah before the weight of adulthood fully descends upon their shoulders.
In a nod to the timeless journey of self-discovery, they conceive a daring escapade: a cross-country voyage from the familiar confines of their hometown to the enigmatic shores of the Ocean for the End of the World party. Hidden in this seemingly whimsical quest lies a deeper resonance, reminiscent of timeless explorations of the human spirit. Much like those who traversed a labyrinth of trials and tribulations in their quest for homecoming, our modern-day adventurers embark on a journey where the destination may pale in comparison to the transformative journey itself.
Bound by the ties of camaraderie forged over years of shared experiences, they navigate the highways and byways of the American landscape with a sense of wonder and anticipation. Each roadside attraction, each chance encounter, becomes a chapter in their collective saga, enriching their lives with a rich weave of memories and lessons.
Yet, beneath the surface of their seemingly carefree adventure lies a poignant truth: perhaps the true essence of their journey lies not in reaching the fabled End of the World party, but in the bonds they strengthen and the selves they discover along the way. In the tradition of the great cinematic journeys, theirs is a tale of friendship, resilience, and the unyielding spirit of youth in search of meaning amidst the vast expanse of the open road.
Gasoline Rainbow is a rambling yet insightful road movie that finds soulful truth in the journey of five young Hispanic friends leaving home. Like the great road films, it understands the purpose is not the destination but the experiences along the way. Bill and Turner Ross have crafted a remarkably naturalistic portrait, capturing revelatory moments of honesty, humor and melancholy with an intimate, fly-on-the-wall shooting style that allows us to become immersed in the lives of the vagabond protagonists. An unrehearsed quality pervades each scene as they speak with disarming candor about worries, jokes, opinions and their immigrant backgrounds. Home is a nebulous concept, but their makeshift family bond represents the deeper exploration – an honest, unflinching and deeply soulful evocation of that bittersweet time when childhood’s end is in sight.
The Ross Brothers employ a masterful use of sound and music that imbues Gasoline Rainbow with an irresistible sense of intimacy. Their dynamic camerawork floats effortlessly between the quintet of friends, enveloping us in their temporary nomadic existence. Michael Hurley’s folk compositions and other timeless melodies provide an atmospheric backdrop, accompanying these wayward souls on their transcendent journey.
No matter where they roam – van, boat, train, or on foot – their surroundings take on a lived-in, homey quality. The film’s depiction of modern teenage life in America emerges not in navel-gazing downtime, but through candid conversations achieved in perpetual motion. Profound observations about identity, purpose, and the world around them pour forth with remarkable ease and honesty, softening each new landscape be it desert, forest or lonely stretch of highway. The Ross Brothers’ aesthetic sensitivity elevates the seemingly mundane into something profound and unforgettable.
The Ross Brothers weave a hypnotic tapestry in Gasoline Rainbow, their resplendent strands of dialogue floating across the boundless American canvas like wisps of cirrus clouds buoyed upon an amber-hued sky. Disembodied yet intimately crisp teen voices punctuate the journey, unfurling in gossamer ribbons that dance gracefully even as the characters recede into the distance. This diaphanous counterpoint of sound and image achieves a transcendent, anti-documentary quality that paradoxically envelops us in their cares and confessions.
Intermittent snippets of raw, unvarnished monologue extracted from interviews bloom like wildflowers amid the sun-dappled meadow, never disrupting the reverie. Rather, they arise organically as heartfelt testaments to the “creative treatment of actuality,” an ethos deeply ingrained in the documentary tradition. The filmmakers overlay these layered petals of youthful perspective atop the endless expanse, a masterful post-sync composition that elevates transient teen murmurings to an elegiac ode upon the nameless American landscape.
In this achingly gorgeous mosaic, the Ross Brothers extend a profound generosity of spirit and empathy to a generation bearing the weight of the world. Their delicate, kaleidoscopic reverie beckons – nay, insists – that these nascent souls enjoy the waning vistas of childhood while their journey remains unspent.
