©Courtesy of NBC Universal
Kerouac’s Road: The Beat of a Nation : Director Ebs Burnough‘s insightful documentary examines how Jack Kerouac’s iconic novel “On the Road” continues to resonate in contemporary America, interweaving stories of modern-day travelers with insights from those influenced by or connected to the legendary author. The film retraces Kerouac’s restless journey across America while exploring how his emphasis on experience over material success, as well as authentic connection over digital convenience, speaks powerfully to our screen-saturated era. Featuring appearances by Josh Brolin, W. Kamau Bell, Michael Imperioli and Natalie Merchant, the documentary reframes Kerouac’s work for a generation seeking meaning beyond conventional success.
Director :Ebs Burnough
Producer : Eliza Hindmarch, John Battsek, Ebs Burnough
Screenwriter : Eliza Hindmarch
Cinematographer : Tim Cragg
Editor : Paul Trewartha
Composer : John Forté
Executive Producer : Helen Parker, Johnny Fewings, Kerstin Emhoff, Ali Brown, Jim Sampas
Cast : Michael Imperioli, W. Kamau Bell, Josh Brolin, Matt Dillon, Natalie Merchant, Ann Charters, David Amram, Jay McInerney, Kim Jones, Jean-Christophe Cloutier, Joyce Johnson, Diana Langley, Tenaj Melendras, Faustino Melendras, Amir Staten, Angel Staten, Karlynne Staten
Exclusive Interview with Director Ebs Burnough & Narrator Michael Imperioli
Q : I like that you interviewed many different types of people, musicians, actors, even regular folks as well. How did that concept come about making this documentary? In a way like capturing the American spirit just like Kerouac did his book.
Ebs Burnough: Honestly, when I first read “On the Road”, I was 16, but it didn’t really register with me in the way that it registered with some of my friends.
And I think part of that for me at the time was I didn’t feel, as a young black man in America, I didn’t feel I could have that kind of experience “On the Road.” It felt very, in some ways, perhaps dangerous, but it also felt very out of my scope.
When I reread the book 30 years later, I wanted to reclaim it. It identifies all the different people and parts of humanity that are “On the Road.” And actually to be able to show that what Kerouac did so beautifully and eloquently was that he stitched together this road that is America, but also everywhere in the world.
There’s this concept we’re all on our own journey. Yet, also on a journey together with others. So there’s a lot more in this book that is about bringing us all together than what we constantly are hearing about in terms of people being divided. And so being able to do that with different types of people from different walks of life was important for me.
Q : Michael, the beat generation is often described as a generation of attitude or pleasure pursuing a life or something like that. But when you’re doing the narration of this film, where do you start? How do you research that?
Michael Imperioli: I’ve been a fan since I was 18 years old. And for me, Kerouac really is about, when he was on the Steve Allen show and Steve Allen asked what beat meant, his answer was sympathetic, and when he was on the William F. Buckley Jr’s show and he was being attacked, the beat generation, and the philosophy was being attacked, he said it was always about tenderness.
There’s compassion in Kerouac’s work, how he viewed the world and how he viewed his fellow human beings. And to me, so much of what it was about was connection. And, tapping into that deep rooted need, I think that we have as a species to connect on a fundamental level with other people.
And, that’s what inspired me about the movie, and what was achieved in this movie is bringing this into a modern context where. In this world, we’re so isolated, because of, internet, social media devices all the time. And, being able to see this spirit alive today for this, actual more real analog human connection, that existed, at the time he wrote the book.
Q : In the movie, W. Kamau. Bell said, “More you travel America, the more you understand the context of every part of America. That’s really true because you see there’s so much division after this Trump administration. You don’t know what they are thinking about in particular people in the mid states. Have you ever felt those kinds of elements in your life that make you want to travel?
Ebs Burnough: Go ahead..
Michael Imperioli: I’ve always tried to be open. I’ve traveled a lot in the United States and worked in a lot of places in the United States, and I love it when my expectations get turned upside down, I think that can only come from being open and meeting face-to-face This country has, been whipped up into tribalism, because of politics and media and things like that. And I think it’s. It very much has a big effect, but in another sense, it’s an illusion. It’s not who people are.
Ebs Burnough: Yeah. I would a hundred percent agree. I have traveled extensively around the US also. I’ve worked in politics for many years. And so I’ve interacted with wonderful people in the south Midwest Northwest.
But one of the things that. struck me the most on this project, following people on their journeys and in trailer parks where they would stop and spend the night, and seeing the humanity that does exist in the sense that, in this world between social media. digital and Covid.
People are desperate for community. people wanna actually look someone in the eye and have a laugh or have a beer, have a coke. And so I think what spoke to me about the book as an adult, what spoke to me about why I felt I needed to make this film.
There is so much more that unites us than divides us the road, in its physical sense, this intricate, complex system that brings us all together. But it’s also a metaphor because no matter your politics or faith we are interconnected and part of a community.
Q : I’m curious, I didn’t know John Kerouac was playing football, I didn’t have a tough guy image in my head. But he speaks French and he joined a Marine and all that. Was there any surprise about his characteristic?
Ebs Burnough: I’ll go first. Kerouac has surprised me because he is like all of us, We’re multidimensional as my grandmother used to say, “We are the sum total of our life’s experiences.”
Kerouac was insecure and clung to his mother who clung to him. He was also a brilliant mind and didn’t want to sit at a desk and just write a paper. He didn’t wanna be a lawyer on Wall Street at the time when his colleagues were very much that he was a bit macho, a football player and he was a lot of different things.
And so for me, exploring and finding all of that out, it also helped me remember that today, again, going back to social media, so often what we do. We look at Instagram and we assume that we know someone, and we’ve made this decision that, oh, I know Nobu from, look, that’s the life that he lives. We’re a lot deeper and richer than that. He was a hundred percent like that. He’s a fascinating individual.
Q : How about you, Michael?
Michael Imperioli: Yes, I agree. I agree with everything he just said. That’s how I feel. I got into Kerouac a long time ago and did deep dives into his life books, film and documentaries for someone so iconic, and well known, he’s underrated as a writer. He’s more, in some ways more famous for this image and this mythology. Extremely well-read person and well-educated about his artistry, sometimes gets lost in the mythologizing. One thing I hope, and I think the movie will do this, is inspire people to read his book. Not just “On the Road”, all of his fiction and poetry.
Michael Imperioli: I really think this movie will do that. I’m happy about that.
Q : So this will be the last question. If Jack Kerouac is still alive and “On the Road” right now, what do you think he would react about current America?
Ebs Burnough: Interesting…
Michael Imperioli: I think he’d be disappointed in the current state of things. I’m an optimist and think the division and tribalism people have been propagandized into and stuff like that.
I think maybe, hopefully he’d be optimistic and just say somehow, that human instinct to connect, and be open to others will triumph, the beauty of this film is that it does. It does give that hope in this modern time where that is threatened that very, yearning to connect and that openness.
Ebs Burnough: Yeah, and I think he would probably say, get off your phone. Look outside, actually experience, stop looking at what everybody else says they’re doing, take it in because tomorrow is not promised. And I think he would tell us we were being complete assholes.
Michael Imperioli: Beautiful.
Q : That’s a great way to sum up the film. And I had a good time talking to you. Thank you so much for your time.
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