Cert – 12, Run-time – 1 hour 42 minutes, Director – Clint Bentley
The early 20th century, Robert Grainier’s (Joel Edgerton) life working on building train lines unfolds amongst personal tragedy, distance from his family and the rapidly changing face of America.
Robert Grainier (Joel Edgerton) is helping to build the great, modern American railroad. It’s not a job he particularly enjoys, and when the greater, more modern American railroad crops up just a few years later it’s also one that seems increasingly pointless – especially in the rapidly changing face of the 20th century.
His life could well be an everyday one, at its base the events at hand don’t seem particularly grand. Yet, the narration (Will Patton) tells a story similar to a classic American novel – the screenplay by director Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar based on Denis Johnson’s 2011 novella of the same name. One that acknowledges Robert’s everyman nature while capturing the emotions and heartbreak of his life which slot perfectly into the fantastically captured landscapes, with cinematographer Adolpho Veloso helping to capture one of the best looking films of the year.
Much of the emotion in the film is caught in the quiet, restrained nature of things. Feelings are often muted and sustained, internalised by the central character. So much of what we empathise with is in how Edgerton holds himself throughout the film. His performance is one that’s so subtly physical yet carries great weight – almost like the one it seems that he’s carrying. Having isolated himself for years he finds love with Felicity Jones’ Gladys, going on to start a family together. However, tragedy and loss turn their heads for both, tinging relationships throughout the rest of the film.
A moment of revenge while drawn out as an effective one-shot comes across as emotionless for those witnessing, and to some extent the man behind the killing. Yet, later as Joseph loses an aging friend and colleague more sadness is on display, likely because of the personal nature. The character before this has unloaded personal stories and conversations tinged with wisdom and sentiment, without either of those seemingly being something the character is aware of, or in the case of the former entirely intending. It’s all part of the lives that come in and out of Robert’s own. Touching it and growing his own views of the world from an anxious isolation to branching out with Gladys – who he’s often separated from for long periods of time as he goes off to work on the growing railway system.
Pain, loss and isolation are very much central to Robert and Train Dreams as a whole. However, for the viewer, they never feel overwhelming, particularly in light of the slow-burn run-time – which itself is kept just over 90-minutes. It’s a quiet, thoughtfully made film about being lost in a constantly moving and changing world. The feeling of wanting, needing, to stop leading to almost floating in the same state for months, if not years, when your anchoring reason has disappeared. All brilliantly conveyed by Edgerton and captured by Bentley and Veloso. It’s a sobering reminder of just how emotionally grand and sweeping what seems like a standard life can be.
Joel Edgerton perfectly captures the sadness weighing down Train Dreams’ central character in a subtly physical performance maintained through the beautifully shot changing American landscape. Told through a fitting narration which emphasises the great, emotional, American life.
Just A Little Bit Random 