A chopstick that breaks as soon as it is broken is loneliness.
A lot of chopsticks, it is difficult to break, this is family.
No matter how often lack of communication, family members can always bring some kind of strength.
"The Story of Mr. Streeter" has that power.
There must be some people who watch it in the name of the director. David Lynch , a master of suspense and weirdness, his "Mulholland Drive" was rated by the BBC as the top 100 greatest movies of the 21st century.
His work is generally like this.
Or something like this.
But after his fans watched "Mr. Streeter's Story," this was it.
After watching it, I flipped through the film's information. This is indeed an atypical work of David Lynch . For audiences who don't know him, this is a plain road drama.
The story structure of the later "Wild Survival" is also somewhat similar to this film. It is also about the protagonist's travel adventure, a journey that only belongs to him, and about the family. It is also an adaptation of real events.
The difference is that the protagonist of the story, Alvin Straight, is an old man in his 70s, a World War II veteran living in Iowa, USA. He did something that shocked the United States in 1994. His story, an unstoppable story.
The movie is very bland at the beginning, but it actually hides a lot of suspense.
In addition to explaining Alvin Straight's worrying physical condition and stubborn character, the first 30 minutes also left the suspense of daughter Rose, why she lived with her father, and where her husband and children were.
And Alvin's brother Lyle Straight, what happened between them, these are all questions that can be considered in the mediocre plot.
The pace of the movie is not slow, and after 20 minutes, interesting things happen.
Alvin decided to fulfill his long-cherished wish in the last days of his life and meet his brother Lyle, whom he hadn't seen for more than 10 years.
It's just that the price is not small. Neither he nor her daughter have a driver's license and can't drive. The neighbor is a careless aunt. At that time, there was no high-speed rail in the United States, but Lyle lived in Wisconsin, nearly 400 kilometers away from Alvin. Combined with Alvin's poor health, it seemed like the only way to get someone to drive him there.
Don't look at the map of the United States, look at the 400 kilometers of the map of China, which is equivalent to going from Guangzhou to Meizhou. An elderly man who is in poor health, without anyone to accompany him, is going on this journey of his own.
Because Lyle had a stroke, if she never saw her again, she might never see her again in her life.
Even if they haven't spoken for ten years.
It's easy for others to understand why Alvin wants to meet Lyle, but it's hard for him to do it in such a unique way. I won't say what method is here, anyway, Alvin is alone, and the difficulties waiting for him will follow.
If nothing else, a sudden storm is enough to make an old man with limited mobility on the side of the road embarrassed or even life-threatening.
Fortunately, Alvin loves lightning storms.
Asking Alvin to change his decision was simply impossible.
So the seventy-year-old man embarked on a road that may never be returned.
So we are also fortunate enough to follow the lens of David Lynch and enjoy the idyllic scenery of the North Central United States.
The advantage of watching genre films is that even if you really don’t have the chance to go to the United States in your life, you can quietly enjoy the beauty of the North American continent through the big screen. This is definitely not more experience than going in person, but fortunately there is a soundtrack selected by the master himself, which can also be called A-level enjoyment.
Of course, in addition to watching the scenery, the performance of the actors in the film is more important.
The actor who played Alvin was Richard Farnsworth , who was nearly 80 at the time . He completed this best actor-level performance with bone cancer and was nominated for an Oscar-winning actor that year.
He is really suitable for this role. Like Alvin, he was also ill at that time, and he was of the same age. To play the vicissitudes and emotions of the old man, he may only need to think about his own past to show it.
Richard Farnsworth also said that he acted in the play because he was moved by Alvin's spirit. It's just that some people don't understand that Alvin wants to have no regrets in the last days of his life, but Richard Farnsworth shot himself at home a year after filming the movie.
Rather than saying that he lost to the disease, it is better to say that he lost to the years.
"Mr. Streeter's Story" also became his posthumous work.
Also giving a textbook performance is Sissy Spacek , who plays Alvin's daughter Rose, stuttering words with concern and longing for her family.
The actress also appeared in the previously recommended "Assassination of Kennedy" , the 1981 Oscar winner, and her strength is naturally just right.
The role of Rose also avoids the film being a pure road trip, and it's clear that David Lynch wants to say one word, Family.
Alvin also met all kinds of people along the way, but most of the topics he talked about were about family.
Whether it's the young lady who ran away from home, the unlucky white-collar worker on the road, or the twin brother who helped Alvin, what the content tells the audience is that no matter what happens, home is a very important place, no matter how difficult it is. , you have to go back.
Along the way, about the background of the characters that Rose did not explain before, the grievances between Alvin and his brother gradually came to Alvin's mouth.
Especially the relationship between Alvin and his brother, the two have not seen each other for ten years, but Alvin still has to travel thousands of miles to visit his sick brother.
What drives him to do this is not just the quality of personal will, but also the strength of the family.
Between the family, no matter what happens, there should be no overnight feud.
Because if there is no family, people are like chopsticks, and they will break when they are broken.
Alvin Straight is respectable, but David Lynch did not show his spirit too much, and he was not very inspirational. Instead, he focused on describing his sigh of being old.
Whether he will meet Lyle in the end is suspenseful. Because he missed the best opportunity to meet, he could only take the risk to seize this last chance.
He wanted to complete this journey alone, mostly because he wanted to "atone for his sins" , and it was a mistake in itself to find Lyle, who was also nearing death. He should have gone earlier, and he doesn't want others to help him, because it's not anyone else's fault.
Don't wait until you are inconvenient like Alvin to remember the importance of family and the value of your loved ones, and then make a desperate attempt to undo your mistakes.
Want to say but haven't said, if there are more.
You don't have to save up to write songs.
Just take advantage of now, there is still a chance to see, the people you want to see; there is still a chance to say, what you want to say.
Even if you finally forget it, it's worth it.
What's Worst About Older People?
The worst is when you remember when you were young.
- "Mr. Streeter's Story"
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