Trailer for Aim for the Roses.
Before the Internet, in the era of Evel Knievel, North America was fascinated with daredevils. Their outrageous stunts drew massive crowds and TV audiences. Canadian Ken Carter was a mildly successful showman who in 1976 hyped a feat so extreme it became the stuff of legend: with a rocket-powered car and a ramp, he planned to jump a one-mile span of the St. Lawrence River and land in a bed of roses. Fast forward to 2008. Vancouver musician Mark Haney decided Carter's epic stunt deserved a musical treatment in the form of a concept album for solo double bass. The Georgia Straight called it "utterly amazing and completely fucking ridiculous." Employing a symphony of archival footage, dramatic re-enactments, original interviews and musical numbers, John Bolton captures the insanity and humanity of these very different men, culminating in an operatic ode to creative risk-taking that throws caution to the wind.