Why Train Dreams Should Win the Best Picture Oscar
Clint Bentley's 'Train Dreams' distinguishes itself among the Oscar Best Picture nominees, embodying the spirit of a classic Hollywood era with its deliberate pacing and profound exploration of moral questions. This film, which chronicles a aimless man felling trees amidst Idaho's lush landscapes, might have easily escaped notice, destined to be just another title in the vast Netflix catalog. However, a timely phone call with a friend last year brought it to my attention. She had recently seen a much-hyped, star-studded film that promised significant debate, but left her feeling disheartened about both the movie and the current state of cinema. Like many contemporary films she'd encountered, it offered only superficial provocations that ultimately led nowhere. "I know it sounds like a cliché," she admitted, "but I truly believe things were better in the 1970s!" 'Train Dreams' was one of the few films that year she genuinely enjoyed. Approaching Bentley's adaptation of Denis Johnson's novella with this perspective, I viewed it as a work deliberately out of step with current trends, and perhaps all the better for it. Its opening immediately evokes late 20th-century Hollywood classics, thanks to a kindly voiced omniscient narrator. This guiding voice transports us to Bonners Ferry, Idaho, in the early 1900s, introducing us to Robert Grainier (Joel Edgerton), a man who drifts through his first two decades without clear purpose until he finds love with the free-spirited Gladys (Felicity Jones).
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