Having just watched Brainstorm again, the 1983 film by Douglas Trumbull starring Christopher Walken and Natalie Wood, where the former rides a recumbent Avatar 2000, I thought I would post a piece on my favourite instances of cycling in cinema. To be sure, there are a lot to choose from, but these particular examples sum up the lackadaisical and carefree attitude that cycling means to me, not so much a means to an end as an end in itself.
1. Stanley & Iris
2. Brainstorm
3.
Ridley Scott's 1965 Boy & Bicycle is in the spirit of Truffaut's Les 400 Coups 6 years earlier a tale about a boy's rebellion and search for liberation. Ridley's brother Tony played the eponymous boy as he cycles with his thoughts through the industrial wastelands of north east England towards the sea when he should be at school. For its apparent budget of 65 quid, it sure has a lot to offer during its 26 minute running time, not least some fine overhead crane shots and a fine score by a young John Barry who was so impressed with Scott's effort that he decided to do it for free.
4. American Hero
Yass... Steve Endorfin on a bicycle..... pulling a guy in a wheelchair.... yasss...!
