“A dead tree is as important as a living one.” Train Dreams is a quietly contemplative account of immense heartbreak and the sorrows that come from grief. It’s haunting in every way a story about loss and the passage of time can be, but it’s reflective, too. It’s honest and vulnerable, yet it doesn’t feel like something that’s too heavy for sensitive viewers.
Joel Edgerton delivers a masterful performance throughout, making it effortless to follow his character throughout key points in his life and the tumultuous events that not only change things personally but also in the world around him, too. It’s a perfect time for the movie to release, too, because grief in every way is all around us.
There’s grief about the decaying environment that AI is playing a part in ruining. There’s grief about our careers, especially in the career fields. There’s perpetual, never-ending grief for the people we’ve lost, and our hearts never healed. The human condition is fragile. Around this time each year, many of us come to this place where we even question our existence to a point where it’s concerning—the purpose of life, all of it. I know I do. What’s the point of any of it? What do we leave behind to ensure that the life we’ve lived is worth it? It’s all so utterly heartbreaking when we think about it, and Train Dreams brings these ideas to life through vignettes that not only feel profound but they look stunning.
The production design and cinematography from Adolpho Veloso that takes us through forests is no small feat. It’s so utterly breathtaking there are no words for it—there can never be. Not when nature and everything around us is the one concrete proof of magic that we have. God’s greatness, if you will. Something that goes beyond our understanding. And yet, we treat it so poorly. We go about our lives forgetting to acknowledge the beauty that’s all around us, as we lose ourselves in a job that we may or may not reap the benefits of.
It’s all…too much. And how the film emphasizes this idea through contemplative narration and significant conversations that fill the space with profound sentiments is everything. It’s everything because it’s simple. It’s raw. It’s not some poetic screenplay with otherworldly prose or anything of the sort, but it’s real and vulnerable. Edgerton, Felicity Jones, and Kerry Condon each deliver even the smallest moments with such admirable gravitas that I want to scream about it, but maybe whispering might be even more appropriate.
The fact that this much can come from a novella should also be proof of excellency to the people who dismiss shorter stories as less than. How we come to significant conclusions doesn’t always result from more words, but rather brief and honest conversations with someone, where we understand that our connections are deeper than we realize. Sometimes the bigger picture is all about the words that aren’t said aloud and the feelings that we can’t quite articulate. Sometimes, it’s a single look or the stillness between the trees where all the poetry lies—in the quiet, comforting moments where we feel a little less alone and a bit more understood.
Train Dreams is now streaming on Netflix.
First Featured Image Credit: ©Netflix