Several turns
of the plot The story unfolds slowly through many turns. These plot twists are intriguing, and we can't help but ask: "What will he do? Will he continue? …"
In the first 15 minutes of the film, there is a general description of the protagonist Alvin Streit, who is an old man. Now, his body began to experience a lot of discomfort, he suddenly fell to the ground, he needed someone to help him, his eyes couldn't see clearly, and he needed crutches to walk... But he didn't have much money for treatment, and he stubbornly believed that he was okay, even in The doctor said that the lungs were swollen, and they should reduce smoking. After returning home, they turned a deaf ear and continued to smoke. He lives with his intellectually disabled daughter, Rose, and the two enjoy watching storms and lightning together. It was on such a rainy night that there was bad news that Alvin's younger brother Lyle had suffered a stroke.
From 15 minutes to 27 minutes, the film also expresses the audience's questions through Ross's mouth: 1. Alvin has poor eyesight and cannot drive. 2. Alvin's younger brother Lyle lives in Wisconsin, 317 miles away from where Alvin lives. He has to spend the night on the road and has no car to get to Mount Zion. 3. His pelvis is sick and he cannot sit for a long time. 4. He is 73 years old and his daughter can't send him. Alvin is so determined to see his younger brother, there are many difficulties, how did he overcome it? His first attempt to hit the road was not favored by his friends. Will he go well?
These questions are the motivation for the audience to watch, and the answers to the questions are the content of the film.
On the first try, he drove almost 5km and the engine of the lawnmower burned out, will he have a second try?
After also getting a new engine, Alvin was back on the road with his trailer.
In the 40th to 50th minutes, Alvin's first story on the road is told. He met a girl who had run away from home, asked her if she needed help, and offered her food. To enlighten her, when she was feeling down, she threw out a joke, "It's better to have a tile to cover your head and a warm bed than to eat a hot dog with a stick with a bad old man riding a lawn mower across the province. ". When the next day dawned, the girl had already left and did not explain where she was going, but kindly picked up firewood for the old man.
How could there be few baptisms of wind and clouds on the road? The heavy rain was coming, Alvin drove the car into a nearby place where he could shelter from the rain, and lit a cigarette. The wind and rain seemed to be out of his sight. After the heavy rain, Alvin drove this "car" and started to hit the road again. The race path of the cyclists happened to be on the road where the old man was driving. In order not to affect their race, the old man automatically gave way to the side.
About 57 minutes later, a tragic scene happened in front of Alvin. A speeding car hit and killed a deer. The female driver collapsed incoherently. At night, under the watchful eye of a herd of deer, Alvin ate roasted venison with antlers in his car. (Don't you feel ashamed!)
About an hour into the film, the trailer that accompanied the old man all the way broke down, and on a downhill road, the trailer's brakes failed, even though it was sprinting down at an unpleasant speed in our opinion , but for the elderly this is very thrilling. In the period before Alvin left the town, even though the old man spent most of his money on repairing his car, he still silently left what he could pay to the people who lent him the phone and lent him the phone. He and World War II veterans recalled the brutality of the war and exchanged images of fear of war. He haggles with his car repair buddies and persuades them to cherish each other and not be like him and his brother.
Alvin, who walked through the town, continued the journey, drove to the cemetery, and saw the priest, who happened to know the exact address of his brother.
Finally, the two old men meet, calm and serene.
There are two big twists in the story, when he learns that his brother has had a stroke, and when he actually starts to hit the road. These two big twists are the beginning of the back road story. The whole road story is divided into two parts, one part is that he meets the girl who ran away from home, and the other part is the story of his car breaking down and fixing it in town. The other short stories are there to make the whole story more layered and more coherent.
The director has a very good grasp of the rhythm of the entire film. Several major events are about 20 minutes long, and there are small events in the middle from time to time, some 5 minutes, some 10 minutes, and the arrangement is very reasonable. The accumulation of events, but the twists and turns attract the audience's attention, thinking: "What will happen next?".
The film shows a lot of pictures of the American pastoral scenery, the vast fields, the warm sunshine on the golden wheat waves; the natural scenery is picturesque, and the beautiful scenery along the Mississippi River.
The warmth of the story, the perfect picture, with the soothing music, is warm and harmonious.
Highlight the characters in the details
1. The doctor said that he would need an operation and a walking frame. Alvin firmly rejected the doctor's proposal. He did not have enough money to support these treatments. The doctor compromised but wanted to add an extra bill, but Alvin didn't answer.
The camera at home gave a close-up of the handbook, which was exactly the same as the handbook that appeared in the hospital, indicating that Alvin accepted it.
2. After the first attempt, he raised his gun angrily and set the old engine on fire.
This stubborn old man is not bowing his head to difficulties, but preparing for new attempts and saying goodbye to the past.
3. A girl was calling for a car on the side of the road. She saw Alvin's car slowly passing in front of her, but she didn't mean to wave. Instead, Alvin beckoned to the girl, indicating whether she needed help. A very enthusiastic old man.
When it was dark, the girl went to where Alvin was camping.
One is on foot, the other is driving a "car", and the speed of travel is not much different.
Alvin's "car" is too slow.
4. Two brothers who have not seen each other for many years, the first meeting after arguing is definitely not hugging and crying, because they are both familiar and unfamiliar to each other. I don't know who will speak first and what to say after speaking, so they have to ignore each other. After adjusting each other's emotions, Lyle asked: "You drove this thing so far to see me?" Alvin nodded and said, "Yes, I am." The camera rose from this to a starry sky. What else can I say at this time, words have long been unable to express the feelings between them, "I just want to be with him like in the past, looking at the stars in the sky, talking to each other until we fall asleep."
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