Unique Berlinale experience will blow your mind with the biggest twist of the festival

The United States of America

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Telephone poles and power lines run through this America. The eternal expanse testifies to unbelievable loneliness. Sometimes it seems as if we would wander through a parched land, in which only the industrial complex gives a sign of life. At first glance, the images appear unimpressive, but each one tells a story, from the myth of the frontier to modern capitalism.

Attention, follow massive Spoiler!

The thing is: none of these pictures are Real. Although Benning gave us the precise state and location with the intermediary panels, he decided to shoot The United States of America never venture beyond the borders of California. So we don’t see Alabama, Wyoming, or any state in between. Benning’s camera only shows us excerpts from Californian landscapes.

Nevertheless, we take every picture from him for over an hour and a half. Why does this work? Quite simply: The claimed content confirms our ideas and prejudicesthat got stuck in our heads. The United States of America is a game of expectations, not to mention that the mix of authenticity and distortion brings a certain amount of humor to it.

With the biggest twist of the Berlinale 2022, Benning puts the documentary form to the test and challenges us to question what we see. The fascinating thing is: as much deception as there is in The United States of America, as much truth can be found in the deceptive images. Restricted by the corona pandemic, Benning has created a provocative piece of cinema in search of America that crosses borders and still ends up standing in front of a locked gate.

If you want to make this trip yourself, you can find my Berlinale notes here.

We start in…

• Heron Bay, Alabama: A demolished house sticks out of the picture. Earth and mud form the foundation. Soft music in the background.
• Copper River, Alaska: The rubble is followed by the light of dawn and a path that leads into a mighty mountain range. It’s my favorite frame from the film.
• Ajo, Arizona: We dive into a dry river bed. The stony, barren landscape stands out to the left and right. A joyless canyon.
• Tucker, Arkansas: It’s going to be tough. A road leads along a large lattice fence with barbed wire and a watchtower. A power box also catches the eye.
• Wilmington, California: We look into the sunlight and see a homeless camp under a bridge. One of the most disturbing images in the film.
• Grand Junction, Colorado: The oppressive is replaced by a wide landscape that could have come from a Western. trees and drought.
• New Milford, Connecticut: The American flag flaps in the wind against a blue sky, but we see it from the mirror-inverted perspective.
• Wilmington, Delaware: A large house with pointed protrusions sits calmly at the edge of a street while talking can be heard on a radio.
• Washington, D.C.: The statue of a man dominates the picture. Exhausted, he sits in front of his plow and examines his hands. Forever petrified in his work.
• Key Biscayne, Florida: A large yacht surrounded by many boats. The port goes directly into hotel complexes. An extinct holiday paradise.
• Okefenokee, Georgia: Green grass and a peaceful body of water. We see trees and the sky while various animals make sounds.
• Kilauea, Hawaii: Despite the dry ground, Benning shows a small part of a plantation. Thick palm trees stand in the sun.
• Shoshone, Idaho: A stony terrain stretches out in front of us, which ends in a flat hill over which a tiny person is walking.
• Mining, Illinois: Grass, degrees and more grass. The land is flat and wide. The familiar tones of This Land Is Your Land ring out through the dense fog.
• Gary, Indiana: Gigantic silos in the background, a turning truck in the foreground. In addition, there are monotonous industrial noises.
• Rice Lake, Iowa: A hazy shot of a lake with a few birds flying over it. It could also be the lonely moor from a dark fairy tale.
• Wallace, Kansas: A desert spreads before our eyes, not only made of stones, but also of windmills. An endless noise.
• Willard, Kentucky: A few horses run through the picture and along a fence. A couple of chickens cluck in the background. There is not much going on here.
• Lake Charles, Louisiana: Two cars are parked in front of an industrial plant, one old and one new. Smoke rises and a dog barks into the void.
• Albione, Maine: Huge sunflowers take over the picture almost completely. Only the sound of an approaching helicopter deceives the idyll.
• Baltimore, Maryland: Benning shows us a port with large cranes and even larger warehouses. A small ship chugs on the water.
• Tonset, Massachusetts: Waves slowly roll onto the beach. The movement repeats itself, everything in upheaval. Only the sky stands still.
• Muskegon, Michigan: Even more water and space. Not a picture of hope, however. Rather a dreary sight and a lonely boat.
• Hibbing, Minnesota: The camera bores into the depths of a quarry. Huge machines that still appear small and powerless from a distance.
• Fayette, Mississippi: Power poles, telephone lines and a cotton plantation accompanied on the audio track by inventories of racism.
• St. Elizabeth, Missouri: A river flows comfortably around the corner. An angler in a yellow jacket casts his rod several times. A dog. And the birds in the background.
• Stemple Pass, Montana: It’s getting really cold for the first time. A lot of snow falls on the trees. It’s hazy but also very peaceful.
• Omaha, Nebraska: The mountains on the horizon. Otherwise steppe and dry grass as far as the eye can see. Constricting as well as liberating.
• Warm Springs, Nevada: Small cacti protrude from the earth. The ground is rocky and dry. Play of clouds in the sky and – yes – mountains again here.
• Carroll, New Hampshire: Dhe desert character disappears. Instead, a spooky night spreads between the dry trees.
• Laurence Harbor, New Jersey: Another port. This time huge container ships pass us. The weather is cloudy. Very cloudy.
• VLA, New Mexico: Withered bushes and satellite dishes stand on the dusty ground. Fighter jets sound from far away.
• New York, New York: In the middle of a canyon of houses we see a deserted street. No people, no cars. The back of town.
• Ashford, North Carolina: Surrounded by power lines, a church stands in the fog. First it’s quiet, then the bells ring reverently.
• Grassy Butte, North Dakota: Telephone lines run across the prairie. The amicable mooing of the cows and the awakening crowing of a rooster.
• Cleveland, Ohio: Clouds as if they were from a picture book. They are fluffy and white with minimal shadows. And Lovin’ You by Minnie Riperton. “La la la la la la.”
• Duncan, Oklahoma: Oil pumps go deep. The image is severe, however, mainly because of all the cables and pipes that pierce it.
• Durkee, Oregon: A freight train with a two-story load on its trailers drives and drives and drives past us. It seems to have no end at all.
• East Berwick, Pennsylvania: The chimneys of a nuclear power plant towering high into the sky in contrast to flat solar systems. Both behind a fence.
• Arecibo, Puerto Rico: Music from afar brings life to an otherwise desolate street of homes for sale.
• Jamestown, Rhode Island: A bridge with a wind farm in the background. Also: water and a jetty. People are only very small.
• Kershaw, South Carolina: A view of a field. Trees with white blossoms stand peacefully in several rows around the area.
• Little Eagle, South Dakota: The clouds lie low in the landscape and pass us by. It’s dry, but the trees and mountains don’t seem to mind.
• Paris, Tennessee: Clouds gather in the light of the setting sun while the moon is already in the sky. An incredible play of colours.
• Valentine, Texas: A run-down gas station, pragmatically boarded up. Without a doubt one of the saddest images in the film.
• Hanksville, Utah: We stare at layers of eternal stone. The passage of time before our eyes and yet movement seems impossible.
• Milton, Vermont: A hilly landscape in the snow. Fir trees are densely packed here, a bit of sun and lots of shade.
• Norfolk, Virginia: The fourth and last port. This time a warship sits in the water with flags and lines. Three cannons jut directly into the picture.
• Okanogan, Washington: A steep slope with trees growing out of it. The earth is wet and fog hangs in the mountains. rolling thunder. A very powerful image.
• Meadow Bridge, West Virginia: Several cars race through a muddy stockcar track in front of large billboards. Mainly they slide in the mud.
• Milwaukee, Wisconsin: A parking lot hugs a factory building and waits for the trucks. The familiar tones of Imagine ring out.
• Kelly, Wyoming: The last picture shows a chain link fence and a locked gate. The road has cracks. “Privat Property.” This is the end.

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Have you ever ventured into the cinematic worlds of James Benning?

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