Rolling

D: Gretchen Berland

Rolling is the product of footage shot by three wheelchair-dependent L.A. residents over the course of 16 months. The often shaky or off-frame shots give the viewer an enlightening perspective on a world designed for able-bodied people. The dialogues are shot from lap level, and details as small as whether people bend down to address the subjects gain an unexpected significance. The audience becomes dependent on the subjects’ wheelchairs in order to move through their stories, and consequently experiences the everyday frustrations caused by small oversights on the part of others. When an access-van driver leaves Vicki 10 feet from her door in a broken electric wheelchair, we share in the experience of waiting, stranded in the dark with her for hours, for someone to come by and notice. Frustrations like these abound, but the film’s most affecting footage follows Ernie, a former television writer with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease). Watching his rapid degeneration, and his remarkably good-humored acceptance of his impending death, is an experience that makes this film required viewing.

Saturday, Oct. 16, 2:30pm, and Tuesday, Oct. 19, 7pm at the Arbor

This article appears in October 15 • 2004.

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