By Susan Granger
“Train Dreams” is a mesmerizing, visually stunning motion picture about solitude, sadness and community – one of the best of the year.
Set in the rugged forests of the Pacific Northwest in the first half of the 20th century, it’s the ruminative story of itinerant laborer Robert Grainier (Joel Edgerton) who lives a simple, frontier life, marries, becomes a father, suffers great tragedy and dies – without ever speaking into a telephone or owning a gun.
Orphaned as a child, he never knew who his biological parents were, but taciturn Robert recognized the love of his life, intuitive Gladys (Felicity Jones), from the moment he saw her singing in a church choir.
They had a daughter and both deeply regretted Robert’s long absences during the years when he was constructing a railroad trestle and laying tracks on the Spokane line, then working as a sawyer, felling magnificent spruces.
Australian actor Joel Edgerton delivers a remarkable performance, subtly disappearing into the reflective character of Robert who easily slips into the background yet dominates the narrative. He’s a quiet person, watching nature, particularly gigantic, old-growth trees, in wonderment.
Adapted by writer/director Craig Brewer and co-writer Greg Kwedar, narrated by Will Patton, and photographed by Adolpho Veloso, it captures the elegiac essence of Denis Johnson’s 2011 novella, a slim volume that’s structured around memories, including an early encounter with Chinese immigrants who were brutally killed for no apparent reason or subject to mass deportation.
There’s Robert’s longtime bond with explosive expert Arn Peeples (William H. Macy), who observes that “a standing tree can be a friend – but as soon as you put a blade in it, you have a war on your hands.”
Later in life, Robert meets Claire (Kerry Condon), a forestry services worker who explains how the entire area was once a glacier. “A hermit in the woods is as important as a preacher in a pulpit,” she tells him, acknowledging the value of his solitary existence. On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “Train Dreams” is a lyrical, exquisite 10, streaming on Netflix.
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Susan Granger
Westport resident Susan Granger grew up in Hollywood, studied journalism with Pierre Salinger at Mills College and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with highest honors in Journalism. In addition to writing for newspapers and magazines, she has appeared on radio and television as an anchorwoman and movie critic for many years. Read all her reviews at susangranger.com.
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