RR (2007)

Benning’s newest film charts the landscape and history of American progress through the movement of trains. Thirty years after his earlier work, *The United States of America* (1975), *RR* continues Benning's exploration of highways and railroads as symbols of American life. The film acts as a political commentary on the role of trains in a society driven by consumerism, particularly highlighted when an Eisenhower speech coincides with a passing coal train. Benning spent two and a half years filming 216 shots of trains, 43 of which are in *RR*. The trains' colors, speeds, and sounds evoke a sense of excitement, nostalgia, and romance, underscored by Benning’s statement that this will be his final film made on 16mm.