The United States of America is a road movie in the purest sense. To the rhythm of Benning and Gordon’s silent journey through New York, Chicago, the Rocky Mountains, Las Vegas, and other locations, they show a North America that looks much more sober than the bombastic image we are used to seeing of the country. Their USA feels calmer, almost anti-American. 

Everything is meticulously defined. The camera never leaves the back seat. We only see what Benning and Gordon see through their windshield: skyscrapers, highway restaurants, and barren mountain, city, and desert landscapes. The homeland they are traversing only becomes tangible when they step outside this self-imposed frame during a stopover. In addition, only the car radio, which often changes frequency, makes the outside world and its time frame enter the vehicle: the Vietnam War coming to an end, news of a shooting, Bob Dylan’s protest songs, a radio preacher, Loving You by Minnie Riperton, etc. Fifty years on, their road trip feels not only critical but above all minimalist: the time capsule of a country that has never really changed. (Flo Vanhorebeek)