Shadows on the Wall | Train Dreams

Train Dreams

Review by Rich Cline | MUST SEE

dir Clint Bentley
scr Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar
prd Marissa McMahon, Teddy Schwarzman, Will Janowitz, Ashley Schlaifer, Michael Heimler
with Joel Edgerton, Felicity Jones, Kerry Condon, William H Macy, Nathaniel Arcand, Clifton Collins Jr, John Diehl, Alfred Hsing, David Olsen, Paul Schneider, Zoe Rose Short, Will Patton
release US/UK 7.Nov.25
25/US Black Bear 1h42

SUNDANCE FILM FEST
TORONTO FILM FEST

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Recounting the decades-long sweep of a normal life, this emotionally open-handed film finds powerful resonance in shared human experience. Director-cowriter Clint Bentley has a remarkable eye for detail, integrating the film's richly complex characters with the glorious landscapes of the American Northwest. And he continually highlights the deeper feelings of the lonely central figure without even a hint of sentimentality. So the narrative is both involving and haunting.

Born around the turn of the 20th century, Robert (Edgerton) never knew his parents and grew up feeling disconnected. So meeting Gladys (Jones) is like a miracle. They build a cabin in rural Idaho and happily raise their daughter. But Robert's railway logging job takes him away for extended periods, and he misses his family. He tries to find local work, but it isn't enough to help them plan for a future. Years later, after a wildfire devastates their community, Robert meets forest manager Claire (Foy), a fellow loner who offers him a new perspective.

Covering some 70 years, the story unfolds at a remarkably gentle pace, quietly noting how the world is changing around Robert. He never quite makes it to the ocean, and never speaks into a telephone, but he does take a plane flight in a stunning sequence later on. The film's depiction of his life emerges through understated events populated by fascinating people. It's an unusually textured mixture of joy and sadness, satisfaction and frustration, understanding and confusion.

In the focal role, Edgerton almost silently creates a full-blooded portrait of this reticent man who is unusually open to life and experiences everything intensely. Robert is always seeking connections, for example being far more accepting of a Chinese coworker (Hsing) than others on the bigoted crew. He also takes time to get to know chatty old-timer Arn (Macy) and Native American shopkeeper Ignatius Jack (Arcand), who returns the favour. And both Jones and Condon offer strong-willed, luminous counterpoints.

With Patton's voiceover narration recounting Robert's life in the form of a classic short story, the film becomes a moving exploration of an everyman, finding a powerful sense of commonality even with its specific period and setting. Adolpho Veloso's cinematography and Bryce Dessner's score add hugely to the film's raw beauty, creating a moody atmosphere that is unusually introspective. Robert dreams about one day feeling like he deserves to be living this life, and we know exactly what he means.

themes, language, violence 13.Oct.25 lff

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