Customer Reviews

DAS BUS

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Das Bus is much more than a film about buses and those whose lives are shaped by Das Bus. This is also a story about a city whose center was hollowed out during "white flight" and now has only a tenuous connection through Das Bus to the city's miles of sprawl. As a native of KC, who lived there the first 40 years of my life, I see this flm as a poignant portrayal of my home town.

I caught this on Sundance this other night. It is a brilliant piece of work. My wife said, from the other room, "you want to watch a documentary on buses??". It's much more than that. It weaves together stories of riders and drivers , stories so full of color and pathos.. and the soundtrack, absolutely wonderful. The visuals are incredible as well. Das Bus is one of the best things I have seen in a long time.

A typical Ben Meade film, Das Bus will make you laugh and think at the same time. The film has a hardball political message wrapped in a fluffy coating of lighthearted fun. You will be laughing and clapping and singing along when Ben blindsides you with the reality of what has been lost in this city (or any city, for that matter!)due to ineffectual leaders and inept planning. The lump in your throat and the ache in your heart makes you wonder what just happened. You've just been run over by DAS BUS!

What an original idea of Ben Meade, Kansas City-based filmmaker. Start riding the city bus with a camera and get to know the riders & drivers, then create a documentary of it. Include a nostalgia tribute to bus and mass transit of old times. To some extent, a plug for public transportation and a look at how a large city like KC had good useful public transportation when it was not considered only for poor people like the attitudes of today. Few professional actors included. Includes a full rap-video performance of KC local TECH-9ne (sp?), who plays a driver.

All along the way, meet interesting and zany REAL city characters. The bus riders and drivers tell stories and some get hilariously re-enacted. The scene of hippie bus driver "Wild Bill" Day (an actual KCMO bus driver) faking being blind when getting on the bus to drive is a scream. Some of the other re-enacted stories flow like a reality show but much of the movie is based on actual reality.

I think Ben Meade has done a great job of bringing a micro-world of everyday Americans who just happen to ride the bus into an entertaining funny documentary.

A great use of the KC-based Iris DeMent song "Our Town" is included, but I won't spoil it for you.

Recommended to anyone from Kansas City, independent film buffs, bus drivers and riders, public transportation advocates, and mass transit nostalgia buffs.

Just so you know, bus driver "Wild Bill" (my neighbor) has retired but is still "at large" around mid-town Kansas City.

Stories from passengers and drivers of the Kansas City, MO bus system.
Some are real people, some are actors -- it's not hard to distinguish between them.
As a former long-time rider of the Atlanta public transit system, I have a lot of interesting
stories I could tell about my experiences riding the buses in that city. I thought perhaps
Das Bus might serve up some interesing dish as well, but alas...
I didn't find many of the stories very interesting, and frankly a couple of the actors purporting
to be bus passengers could use a little drama school coaching.
My main reason for purchasing this dvd was the fact James Ellroy was in it. But Ellroy fans be
advised: he has about five minutes screen time in the whole movie. The rapper that shares co-billing
with Ellroy also has about the same amount of time - which might or might not be a disappointment to
you.
I've never been to Kansas City though, and this movie did serve as an almost interesting tour of parts of
that city from a bus rider's perspective.
Urban transit is a mystery to most Americans. If you've never ridden a city bus, go ahead and get on
Das Bus (why it's "Das" bus is never explained.) You might enjoy the experience. Otherwise, forgiddaboudit.