KyleJames and Michael Bourne have been making movies since their early high schoolyears, shooting video for YouTube in the backyards of Bayview. But with James’recent graduation from MIAD and Bourne’s impending departure from UWM, theyhave undertaken a larger project— a short film actually, but one with highproduction values.
“TheDeath Drive” is an expertly edited kinetic exercise involving danger at thehighest pitch—“I'm an astronaut, an explorer,” the unnamed protagonist (James)says as he rides standing atop a racing motorbike. He stands in front ofonrushing reight trains, steps gingerly over the edge of rocky precipices (andthe Bay View Terrace condominium) without a parachute, diving into deep water,setting himself on fire. He calls it “a calling—a call to do dangerous things.”
“Whydo I keep doing this?” he asks later on. It’s because he otherwise feelshollow, incomplete, “stuck with myself—I want out.” It’s the ultimate high. Andyet, the tone is austere but never dark (and there is a love story angle,too!).
“Alot of it was filmed in Milwaukee—except for the mountain footage in Utah,”James says. “Lake Michigan stands in for the ocean. The Milwaukee skyline isvisible in the background.” As for the death-defying (or death tempting?) stunts,he adds: “One third of it is real, one third is fake, and one third is a weirdmixture of the two.”
"The Death Drive" will be shown at this year's Milwaukee Film Festival. Formore information, go to mkefilm.org/festival
