chicano art - harry gamboa jr.

video - script

In 1998, Harry Gamboa Jr. assembled performers for a scripted video work RITE OF OVERPASS that would be the final project in analogue Hi-8 video format. Over a two-week period, the work was shot in Los Angeles, ELA, WLA, and Claremont,California.

in memory of Lorraine Ordaz

Fade in from black:

Negative reversal with colorization and digital FX.

Montage of various bridges and overpasses.

Cello music.

Superimpose title:

RITE OF OVERPASS

Superimpose credit:

writer/director

Harry Gamboa Jr.

Fade to black.

L-R Swipe:

GRONK walks slowly across Lorena Street Bridge.

GRONK (V.O.)

It's difficult to suspend fear over concrete chasms. I can't walk anymore because there isn't any way to bridge the gap between departure, arrival, arch rivals, and trivialities that get in the way of progress. I can't get from here to nowhere. It's an urban tightrope and I've lost my balance.

C.U. GRONK.

GRONK (V.O.)

I don't want to cross over if it means that I've got to leave my memories behind. I'd rather induce amnesia on my own terms. I've forgotten where I'm supposed to be going. Something is dragging me forward and it certainly isn't my will to live.

L-R Swipe.

FABIOLA pinches CHUY as they both walk across Palms Avenue overpass of 405 Freeway.

FABIOLA (V.O.)

He's ignoring the fact that each step leads to disaster. I've got to slow him down before he trips over the edge. He acts like he doesn't care but his entire personality is built on a crumbling façade. I'll make him wake up even if I have to pinch him to death. Compassion and repression are physical acts.

CHUY (V.O.)

She's resisting reality. I'm destined to walk in a perfectly straight line from beginning to end. There's nothing anyone can do to stop me. Pinching is an extension of desire. Pain or pleasure won't detour me from my chosen path. I'm certain that the bruises will never go away. Why do I feel like I'm walking on hot coals?

C.U. FABIOLA.

FABIOLA (V.O.)

It's so peaceful up here. They're all so orderly down there even if they don't know what they're doing. If only they would all sink into the asphalt. There's no ecstasy in futility. Never wake up sleepwalkers because they might kill you.

C.U. CHUY.

CHUY (V.O.)

Sometimes I get this horrible feeling that I should turn back even when I'm safely more than halfway across. The impulse to leap into the fast lane is almost as great as my faith in gravity. There's no integrity to the way things are structured.

L-R Swipe.

MARIA ELENA, DIEGO, KARLA, & ANTHONY are walking across Hill Street overpass of Hollywood Freeway.

ANTHONY (V.O.)

Co-dependency is like a puzzle made up of all the wrong pieces. But it still makes a pretty picture even if you're blinded by love. I can't see the bottom of the abyss but I know that I'm at the precipice. I'd rather be paralyzed than to march in step with the masses. I don't trust anyone who has a short attention span.

KARLA V.O.:

I know that we'll never make it but my feet still don't feel like they're touching the ground. It's a mutual addiction that only adds to the unbearable weight of meaninglessness. How can I burn my bridges if they're made out of fractured ideals? Everything is swaying and is so unstable. Blow it up!

C.U. ANTHONY

ANTHONY (V.O.)

The elegance in the design of opposing directions and forces is what fascinates me. Everything else is boring. If I had any social consciousness I'd just push everyone off. But I just don't care about what happens to pedestrian everyday life.

C.U. KARLA.

KARLA (V.O.)

Premeditated chaos with an indeterminate amount of destruction is what I'd like to see. But this elevated view of the universe eliminates all culturally relevant reference points. What if I were to jaywalk into eternity and would never be seen by anyone ever again?

MARIA ELENA, DIEGO, KARLA, & ANTHONY are walking across Hill Street overpass of Hollywood Freeway.

MARIA ELENA (V.O.)

I'm not laughing out of disrespect for the walking dead. My funny bone has been traumatized my entire life by the brutal effects of hatred. I've been tickled by the shock of terror. The harder it hurts the harder I laugh. Humor is an abscessed byproduct of survival. A laugh riot isn't a revolution.

DIEGO (V.O.)

I don't get the joke but I'll laugh at anything, at anyone, anytime and anywhere. Especially when it's most inappropriate. I'd rather laugh than fight. No one is going to make me stop laughing. I'll laugh in your face if you don't watch out. Don't make me hit you because that would be funny.

C.U. MARIA ELENA

MARIA ELENA (V.O.)

The comedy of existence and the tragedy of humanity have merged to become an indistinguishable pain that needs to be extinguished. It's like an itch that needs to be scratched away with a poisoned blade. The polluted breeze is burning me. I'll die laughing.

C.U. DIEGO

DIEGO (V.O.)

This isn't a hilarious high jinx. It's a nightmare waiting for me to demolish any semblance of security or safety. I don't feel like laughing anymore. The pillars are disintegrating and there is nothing that will support us. Let it all collapse in ruin.

L-R Swipe:

HUMBERTO and LORRAINE walk across pedestrian bridge at Claremont College.

LORRAINE (V.O.)

I'm never been content with wanting or hoping . I won't strive to advance just for the sake of achievement. It's got to be fun or it isn't worth the effort. Whenever I see a straight line I do my best to erase it and replace it with an indelible scar. My path is littered with discolored pieces of broken hearts. Love = death.

HUMBERTO (V.O.)

I don't want to walk on this earth anymore. I want to be carried in someone's arms. I've worked too hard my whole life to have to go on any further. I'd rather be invisible because my shadow weighs heavily on me. It can't be surface tension. It can't be subliminal friction. I want to cut all ties. Scratch my face.

C.U. LORRAINE

LORRAINE (V.O.)

There's no time to say goodbye. I can't say it fast enough. Everything is erected out of sand. Confidence is an illusion. The horizon follows me wherever I go. The distance between intuition and affection can be measured by multiple infractions of fear.

C.U. HUMBERTO

HUMBERTO V.O.:

I won't descend to a level of equal footing. Everything is obviously at a perilous slant. There must be a way to turn this thing around so that it will take us back to where we started from. We're going the wrong way. Why do I feel so disconnected from start to finish?

L-R Swipe:

PAULINA walks across National Boulevard overpass of Santa Monica Freeway.

PAULINA (V.O.)

Everyone who was before me has leapt to their demise. Everyone who was behind me has risen to the toxic clouds. I've never believed in fate that is why I walk alone. I am not afraid of an eternity that is beyond my ability to comprehend. It is not faith. It is my acceptance of a universe that is ruthless.

C.U. PAULINA

PAULINA (V.O.)

At least I won't have to worry about guilt by association. I've counted six billion mutants and not a single one deserves to walk alongside me. There is no such thing as purity of form because it is deformed by human awareness. Onward to the vanishing point.

Fade to black.

Fade in from black:

Negative reversal with colorization and digital FX.

Montage of various bridges and overpasses.

Cello music.

Superimpose credit.

Performers

Gronk
Fabiola Torres
Jesús "Chuy" Torres
Maria Elena Gaitán
Diego Gamboa
Karla Gutiérrez
Anthony C. Sandoval
Humberto Sandoval
Lorraine Ordaz
Paulina Sahagún

Superimpose credit.

cello

Maria Elena Gaitán

Superimpose credit.

http://www.harrygamboajr.com