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"This is a story about old age and it´s a story about a man`s life. Richard Farnsworth is one of the most special people I ve ever met. So much comes through from way deep
inside. I`ve
never seen anything like it... And it`s a beautiful thing to see his face. His face says so much ...and in the script you will learn about a regular man`s life. And, you
know, what he`s gone through is similar to a lot of
people." David Lynch Although Lynch tends to explore his favourite themes and settings, all of his works are quite unique, and The Straight Story makes no exception here. It is a nice surprise that it is lacking the Lynchian surreal and violent elements and is still immediately recognizable as his work. Richard Farnsworth gives a stunning performance, again the viewer is put into a world he sees with the eyes of the protagonist, like in Twin Peaks Fire Walk With Me, where the unbalanced and episodic structure of the movie aptly reflects Laura Palmer being lost in her world, the same goes for Lost Highway, Eraserhead, Blue Velvet and Wild at Heart. While
The Straight Story is easily accessible, it is at the same time one of the
darkest Lynch-movies, where the sorrows will not be resolved in the end, because
the sorrows are more common than in any other Lynch-movie: aging, poor
health and regretting mistakes you have made and dear people you have lost. With
a remarkable sensibilty, Lynch avoids the traps of sentimentalism and cliché. Even if Alvin`s journey is depicted as straight-forwardly as possible, it is (to me) as abstract and symbolic as can be. Whereas Twin Peaks Fire Walk With Me scared off critcs and viewers by leaving symbolic traces to nowhere, the imagery in The Straight Story almost automatically hints towards further dimensions. If you don`t follow me here, it won`t do the movie any harm, if you do, please tell me: From my point of view; Alvin Straight`s travel is clearly a pilgrimage. On a pilgrimage the journey itself with its burdens and obstacles you take are almost as important as reaching your destination, in contrast to one`s everday-travelling. And Alvin´s destination is Mount Zion, if you consider that Alvin claims to have 'travelled his whole life' you might get the idea. Alvin tries to use his wisdom and life-experience to help the first people he meets on his journey, he helps simply listening to them in the first place. The encounter with the priest on the churchyard is in complete contrast to this: Now it is up to Alvin to lay bare his sorrows and failures with the preacherman responding: "I can only say Amen to this". To most viewers, the orgin and nature of the alienation of the two brothers is irrelevant. However, the only difference between Alvin and Lyle we get to know in the movie, is that Lyle is baptized while Alvin is obviously not. In my opinion, he symbolically does this by crossing the Mississippi. Crossing the bridge is visualized like entering a church. Additionally the conflict is in Alvin`s word a story 'as old as the bible' (Cain and Abel). Therefore
the title "The Straight Story" might be indeed a play on words: that
means if you have any idea what "The Greatest Story Ever Told" might
be...
The following appeared at 'Cibroc', just before the shooting for "The Straight Story" took place to cast extras: FUN NEWS!
A movie is being made in Laurens, Iowa about the true story of an elderly man whose license was taken away for medical
reasons and, because he couldn't drive, drove his riding lawn mower to Wisconsin to see his ailing
brother. The film is being
directed by David Lynch and stars Sissy Spacek and Richard Farnsworth.
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