The change that the world is undergoing is forcing us to reconsider our origins, thus feeling the need of a slow and reflective life. Slow Dance, Fast Wheels is a true story by C41 for adidas Originals, it is a film of connection and disconnection that aims to celebrate the simple and slower life, a kind of life that today’s youth no longer know how to live. The film was created to celebrate the launch of FORUM 84. Created in 1984 as a forward-thinking basketball sneaker by famed footwear designer Jacques Chassaing, the adidas FORUM has transcended its sporting origins from its inception, building an authentic bond with culture for generations. In addition to its status as a style icon, adidas Originals FORUM also serves as a platform for self-expression, unconventional thinking, and cultural innovation.
These days, in which technology has taken over, we feel the need to quickly connect with the world; while the web which used to be the fastest and most innovative method has now become too slow and unsatisfying. The young people of today, given the lack of human and social contact lived over the last period, need a quick and fluent interchange of ideas. This is a true story that C41 has created for adidas Originals reflecting on the matter of present in all its facets. It is like a glance at the contemporary that suggests us to look for a slower lifestyle, where slowness stands for the research of a higher standard of living in nature doing sport between friends, in company.
The protagonists of this story are young guys who live in the area of Milano Centrale, a meeting place for connections of many people who share friendships and passions. Melat, Koffi, Kalkii, Omar, Lorenzo and John are a crew of city kids who are linked together by their passion for skateboarding and who together rediscover the quiet suburbs. In this context, the word periphery wants to indicate a metaphor useful for addressing a discourse about a dimension in which being able to find the time to live slowly, allowing our characters to stay together without stress. Melat, the protagonist of the story, wants to become a singer and has always experienced the Milano Centrale spot as a place in which meeting with friends, as a location sprinkled with a mood of union that a sport like skateboarding promotes.
The film’s soundtrack, written by Luca A. Caizzi and Leone with the collaboration of the artist Ze in the Clouds, expresses the thoughts of the boys who recite some excerpts in front of the camera reflecting the mood of the young generation and at the same time that state of mind of the young people to whom C41 wants to speak. Slow Dance, Fast Wheels is a hymn to living in a simple way, without too much drama. “I dance so fast that internet cant follow me, but i’m sure the worlds needs fewer bloggers and more trees this life isn’t easy at all but what’s better than friends wheels n beeeeer.” A true story of young people who rediscover the pleasure of calmness, of guys who live in the moment among friendly faces and poor connections and who finally manage to give a value to the open spaces and to the slowness of the passing time.
