The Straight Story
19-01-2008 – 19:54Today I was reminded of a movie that I really need to see again because of a million reasons. The story is brilliant because of it’s simplicity and complications at the same time, the setting is beautiful and the music… wow. The Straight Story is one of the best movies I’ve ever seen. Also it’s incidentally one of the few David Lynch movies I actually understand more than enough to like it. Note, again, his crazy thing for filming the stripes in the middle of a road, something I noticed first in Lost Highway (which I saw at 16, perhaps I should watch it again to see if I get it now). I don’t know for sure, but perhaps he considers it to be some sort of trademark.
In this scene Alvin Straight drives his lawnmower out of town to visit his brother who lives in an adjacent state (never mind the Italian, I couldn’t find this scene in English). The two haven’t spoken to each other for many years and he wants to make amends. The music is by Angelo Badalamenti, who convinced me so much by this soundtrack alone that I’d watch any movie featuring him in the soundtrack. I have no words for how beautiful this song is.
3 Responses to “The Straight Story”
Mmm, that looks nice :)
The impression I’m getting, from both the music and the imagery, is that the whole scene is about the concept of being forced to take it slow. This enables you to see the beauty of things around you, in this case the beauty of rural North America.
You know? I think I’d actually enjoy a movie that was nothing but this one scene, stretched of for an hour and a half: just this guy, doing his thing and the things he sees.
Mmm… I think Ghibli could make an anime out of that :p
By Cailin Coilleach on Jan 20, 2008
You’re quite right… the whole movie is about taking it slow. Since Alvin is forced to slow down, both physically and transportation-wise, the movie moves along with him in that pace. And that’s something I really love, since it stands in contrast to all the fast movies around these days.
Most of the movie consists of beautiful scenes like this, and the few dialogues are very strong as well. Apart from that it has a melancholic atmosphere, mixed with the peace that Alvin feels now he’s about to make amends.
By Wi11ow on Jan 21, 2008
Sounds awesome :)
*puts on wishlist*
By Cailin Coilleach on Jan 23, 2008