Take the Five

Interstate 5, the primary highway on the West Coast of the United States, runs for more than 1,000 miles between Mexico and Canada, through California, Oregon and Washington. In this experimental short film, the US filmmaker Conner Griffith takes the Californian stretches of the highway, and flips, spins, intercuts and speeds them up to exhilarating effect, set to a vigorous rendition of Take the ‘A’ Train, performed by the US jazz pianist Richard Tee. The video cleverly juxtaposes quintessentially East Coast urban music with West Coast rural imagery but, more than anything, it’s a wildly fun ride.

-via Aeon

As a kid I spent countless hours riding up and down California’s roads visiting relatives. So many of these landscapes are etched on my mind from endless window gazing. Do yourself a favor and go full-screen on this one.

2 replies on “Take the Five”

  1. Well, i was hoping maybe for more than just Cali… strange hearing it called “The 5” it is “I-5” eye-five for ever…

    I can say with pretty much absolute certainty that I’ve been on every mile of it except for the last couple before the border, and have personally driving from LA to Canada (not all at once) but then again – i grew up out on that coast… makes sense.

    6 months after I got my DL i took the family VW Van (early Waterbox) to LA solo. Gas gauge was broken, no cell phone, no GPS. Not even a AAA triptick. Just a map, a phone number or two and my parents credit card (for gas).

Comments are closed.