The need for speed is beautifully underlined in Belgian filmmaker Eva Kupper’s impressive film about motorcycles, men and battling against the odds to overcome handicaps that to the outside world should see them step aside and accept defeat.
The fact that writer/director Kupper is also a motorcycle obsessive who has ridden race tracks around Europe gives the film a real sense of depth and insight into the petrol-head world.
Richly atmospheric and featuring a striking series of motorcycling sequences, the film follows plans by 51-year-old Australian biker Ben Felten as he attempts to break the blind land speed record, set alongside the story of teenager Jed, who has been diagnosed with a similar eye disease to Ben’s and is looking for hope and inspiration from the older man. The challenges are stark and profound, and the film compassionately delves into the backgrounds of the stoic Aussie men involved.
The film opens strikingly with Felten and his co-rider Kevin Magee, a motorcycle World Grand Prix legend, as they speed over Australia’s stunning white sands of Lake Gairdner in South Australia. Magee rides behind Felten giving direction instructions as they reach high speeds. “Go, go, go….leffffft….go, go, go, right….left, left, left” he calls out to try and stop Felten overcorrecting as he tries to gain maximum speed potential.
Sat on motorbikes sporting the numberplates ‘Blind 1’ and ‘Magoo’, they make for an engagingly odd couple. These are gnarly Aussie men whose friendship is based around motorcycles and beer. Former motorcycle champion Magee is keen to take on challenges of his own after stopping racing, and his two-wheel skills fit perfectly with Felten’s ambition.
As a teenager, Felten was diagnosed with a degenerative eye disease, leaving him fully blind by his mid-thirties. He admits to years of booze, anger and violence as he tried to adjust to his condition. Despite years of hardship and the enormous risks, Ben is determined to pursue his childhood dream of becoming a racing motorcyclist at the highest level.
His story is set alongside that of 13 year-old Jed as he visits hospital. His eye condition is getting worse. He is a country boy with a love for bull-riding and – yes – motorcycles, but is increasingly scared about what his future life will be like. In between preparations for the next blind land speed record attempt, Felten and Magee ride out to the farm where Jed lives with his parents to talk to him about how to try and deal with his situation and – yes – talk bikes.
The powerful scenes of Felten and Magee riding together are beautifully shot, and as the film reaches its climax with the pair streaking across the desert there is a really compelling visceral quality to Dark Rider. No spoilers, but in a wonderfully uplifting moment these taciturn Aussie men eventually embrace (briefly, but warmly) as they know they have achieved something very special. Whether that is on two wheels or in terms of their wider lives, you’ll have to watch and see…
Belgium, 2021, 90mins
Dir/scr Eva Kupper
Production Serendipity Films, Clin d’Oeil Films, Volya Films
Producers Ellen de Waele, Elisa Heene
Cinematography Carl Rottiers
Editor Thijs Van Nuffel
Music Theo Sieben
Sales Serendipity Films
