TRAIN DREAMS

(Check out Chris Reed’s Train Dreams movie review, it’s in theaters now and hits Netflix November 21! Seen it? Join the conversation with HtN on our Letterboxd Page.)

With Train Dreams, the writing/directing duo of Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar (Sing Sing) adapt the late Denis Johnson’s eponymous novella, crafting a gentle heartache of an elegy for the ostensibly simple life of days gone by. Starring Joel Edgerton (Master Gardener) as Robert Grainier, an orphaned 19^th-century man making his hard-working way through 20^th-century railroad and logging jobs, the movie features breathtaking images from cinematographer Adolpho Veloso (Jockey), evocative montages from editor Parker Laramie (André Is an Idiot), and a beautifully restrained score from composer Bryce Dessner (Dandelion). Slowly, over the course of its 102 minutes, the film’s narrative washes over the viewer with poignant grace.

Narrated by the great Will Patton (Janet Planet), Train Dreams elevates the source text while respecting its core elements. In Johnson’s story, Robert is an active participant in a racially motivated crime—swept up in the act without the mental acuity to question the reason for it—whereas here he is less doer than unwitting and tacit accomplice. The guilt that follows him throughout later years, which he believes is deserved, fuels a belief in the cursed cause of his personal family tragedy. Though not given to complex introspection, Robert gradually comes to see how he is connected to the good and the bad of the planet. As are we all.

History is a chronicle of violence, whether of so-called civilization or of nature. Veloso’s camera plunges us deeply into the latter; Robert’s professional labors emphasize the former, as he and colleagues cut down trees and build railways. Underneath the assembly of transportation and towns lies the constant threat of racist barbarity, in opposition to Robert’s otherwise mild nature.

In his thirties, he marries Gladys (Felicity Jones, The Brutalist), and together they construct a home in the woods. Their scenes together anchor the drama, quiet moments set against a burbling brook and wind-caressed fields. When daughter Kate comes along, the parents take great joy in raising her, Patton’s voiceover explaining that these are the happiest moments of Robert’s life.

Such pleasure must presage disaster—as per Roberts’ own belief in his original sin—and for the rest of Train Dreams our protagonist navigates dreams and memory to make sense of the world, a call and response between the real and imaginary that is a hallmark of grief. What is the purpose of our time on Earth, the movie asks? To be present, and celebrate what we can, the existential agony of existence notwithstanding. At least these metaphysical ruminations are a cinematic site to behold.

– Christopher Llewellyn Reed (@ChrisReedFilm)

Netflix; Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar ; Train Dreams movie review

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