Movie review | Troublehaus - Riding Rhythms

Arrival at the Weekender: the Projekt Pommes guys sit at the improvised cash desk. For three euros admission you get a penguin stamp on your hand. It takes a while for the movie to start, but with a beer and live music from Marco Tribelhorn - what else can he do? - there is time for small talk ("Hey, long time no see! How was the summer? What are you doing in winter?"). Most of the audience know each other, as is usual in Innsbruck, and most of them also know someone involved in the film. The atmosphere is that of a relaxed house party with the extended family of Innsbruck freestylers-who-sometimes-go-on-tours. We realize that a) we are somehow quite old and b) we are no longer up to date in terms of style.

After Tribi has finished his set, the film starts. Divided into individual "rhythms", we accompany the protagonists through a winter - starting with the first snowflakes while mountain biking in the autumnal intro to the last spring session and a final sequence at the bathing lake. In between are various self-contained "rhythms" that show stylized ski days of the versatile crew. Sometimes it's about ski touring in the snowy forest, sometimes about backcountry kickers (building and jumping), then again about cliff and tricky minigolf lines or a hut tour with big mountain terrain. The whole thing is accompanied by music written and recorded especially for the film by Electric Sun, a Swiss psychedelic rock band. The Weekender audience rewards every stylish trick and beautiful fall with applause and cheering.

In contrast to the increasingly narrative films of many major productions, Riding Rhythms manages without an artificial story. The protagonists' everyday skiing life is portrayed without any detailed background and without any insights into the riders' emotional lives, and in a fairly straightforward and realistic manner. If memory serves, the film is completely free of dialog apart from a single "Servus" in a posed we-load-the-skis-into-the-car-in-the-early-morning scene. The almost exclusive focus on action is refreshing and sensible - the acting skills of the Pommes boys already reach their limits with the "Servus". (No offense, colleagues.) The short and taciturn atmospheric interludes are quite coherent, as is the division into the individual content and musical chapters or "rhythms". The lasting overall impression is that winter is fun - not only with uber-pros at the most spectacular spots in the world, but also in ski resorts in Austria and Switzerland with the guys and girls from your own circle of friends. Unfortunately, Electric Sun wasn't on location in Innsbruck, but there are still a few screenings where the music is played live.

Conclusion:

A successful film by a likeable crew with impressive but not completely outlandish action at spots that are accessible to everyone. Makes you want winter! More of a movie for the big screen with a big group (preferably with a live band, of course) than for a TV evening alone at home.

Downer:

For next time, we would like to see a bit more female action, for example from Rosina Friedel and Ariana Tricomi, who are not only generally great, but also more than predestined in this case.