A Shift in Strategy: From Spectacle to Depth, Netflix Finds a New Path
If we examine the recent trends of OTT platforms, including Netflix, we can sense a distinct shift from the early days when blockbuster action movies, pouring in massive capital to provide flashy spectacles, were the dominant force. Initially, stimulating visuals of destruction and explosions were the most powerful weapons to attract subscribers, but as time passes, more viewers are feeling fatigued by these monolithic contents. Cases where vast production budgets resulted in failure in both criticism and box office due to weak narratives and improbable developments have become frequent, leading to a strategic correction within Netflix. Now, movies that possess weighty messages and solid narratives—even if somewhat heavy and requiring serious reflection—are capturing viewers' hearts and acting as key players in increasing "watch time," rather than those offering mere visual pleasure. In this flow, the released movie Train Dreams can be considered a rare masterpiece that competes not with flashy packaging, but with the depth of its content.
A Literary Masterpiece on Screen: The "Laborer Version" of Stoner
Train Dreams is based on the novella of the same name by Denis Johnson. Since its release, it has been riding a quiet but powerful wave of word-of-mouth among audiences who prefer literary depth. I also encountered this film through an algorithmic recommendation, but due to its calm opening, I postponed watching it several times before finally finishing it recently. As the ending credits rolled, I was immersed in a deep lingering feeling that made me regret the delay. As many who have seen the film unanimously say, this work is reminiscent of a "laborer version" of John Williams' novel Stoner. If Stoner is the biography of a professor silently enduring his life within the ivory tower of academia, Train Dreams forms a strange symmetry in that it deals with the sublime life of a laborer who pierced through his era with nothing but his body in the rough great nature.
The Dignity of an Unrecorded Life
Both works illuminate lives that are extremely ordinary, or perhaps even shabbier than ordinary, but the dignity of life discovered within them is never light. The protagonist of Stoner at least had the social status of a university professor, and records of his academic achievements or students and colleagues who remembered him remained. However, the life of Robert Grainier, the protagonist of Train Dreams, is much lonelier and of a kind that easily disappears to the other side of the world's memory. He is not a figure who stands at the forefront of history or leaves achievements worthy of a biography. He is just one of the countless nameless laborers who lived day by day silently laying railroads and felling trees. Nevertheless, the film throws a huge philosophical question of "What is life to a human?" through his life.
The Sweat and Blood of the Frontier: Robert Grainier's Struggle
Robert Grainier, played by Joel Edgerton, is a manual laborer working at railroad construction sites in the American West during the frontier era. The film shows the harsh working conditions of the time without filtering. Felling giant trees and building bridges in rugged valleys were perilous tasks that used life as collateral. In a place where it was daily life for colleagues to lose their lives in accidents, Robert endures with the sole goal of survival and supporting his family. Even after meeting his beloved wife and gaining a daughter he cherished more than his own eyes, he could not stay by his family's side because of the weight of being the breadwinner and had to leave for the rough labor sites again. His rough knuckles and drops of sweat seem to represent the lives of the grassroots people who supported the huge country of America at the time.
The Era of Disconnection and the Archetype of Yearning
The film coolly describes the landscape of that era, which was disconnected to a degree incomparable to modern times. In days when even telephones were not properly distributed, let alone smartphones, leaving for work meant complete disconnection from family. It was common not to return home for months, and the reality of not being able to even hear their voices even when missing them deeply gave Robert profound solitude. All he could do was wish for his family's well-being while looking at the night sky after hard labor. This physical and emotional disconnection acts as a device that maximizes the tragedy that will befall him later, stimulating the archetype of "yearning" that modern people have forgotten.
Facing the Unimaginable: Life Goes On
Eventually, while Robert is away at work, a terrible fire sweeps over his family. However, being far away, he could neither know the fact immediately nor stop it. When he returned to his home, which had turned into ashes, what he had to face was the irreversible reality of his family's death. The film does not exaggeratedly show Robert wailing or screaming in this tragic situation. Rather, it dryly illuminates his appearance of blankly denying reality in front of too great a sorrow, but eventually accepting even that pain as part of life and moving his body to eat and live again. This shows the cruel truth that "life goes on despite everything" and heavily conveys the weight of life that the survivor must carry.
Questioning the Standard of a Successful Life
We tend to consider only successful lives, glamorous lives, and lives recognized by others as valuable. The media launches success myths every day, and social media displays others' flashy daily lives, giving ordinary people a sense of relative deprivation. However, Train Dreams asks back through the character of Robert Grainier whether such standards are truly the answer to life. Not everyone can be a protagonist of history, and the majority of people live sweating silently in their places like Robert. Even if the world does not remember him, no one can say that his life, in which he fiercely endured pain and sincerely filled his days, was a failure.
The Hermit in the Woods: Solitude and Inner Growth
After losing his family, Robert builds a small cabin in the woods and lives like a hermit. The film shows the long time he spends alone with a long breath and without dialogue. In those days without radio or television, what on earth did he do to endure that long solitude? The film does not show him reading books or enjoying hobbies. Just listening to the sounds of nature, feeling the changes of the seasons, and moving his body hardened by labor are his daily routine. From the perspective of modern people who cannot endure even a minute without a smartphone, his life might seem boring and meaningless. However, paradoxically, in that silence without any noise, he would have communed more deeply with the world surrounding him, fully remembered his family who left first, and solidly forged his own inner self.
Joel Edgerton's Masterful Performance
The highlight of this film is undoubtedly Joel Edgerton's acting. In this movie with almost no lines, he perfectly embodied Robert Grainier's life solely with his expressions, eyes, and his stooped shoulders and gait that seemed to have endured the weathering of time. His complex emotional acting, a mixture of joy and sadness, solitude and resignation, makes the viewer feel a thrill. Particularly, the scene where he silently chews and swallows rice while suppressing the sense of loss of his loved ones, or his empty eyes staring into the void, convey greater sadness than any wailing. Although he may not receive attention on flashy stages like the Academy Awards, his acting shown in this film is overwhelming enough to deserve a Best Actor award.
A Quiet Exit: Fading into Nature
The ending of the film treats Robert Grainier's death very calmly. When surrounding characters meet their deaths, their end is shown through the form of funerals or memorials, but the protagonist Robert's death is replaced by a few lines of subtitles rising over a black screen. Dry sentences like "He fell asleep and didn't wake up" show how insignificant the trace he left in the world was, while paradoxically seeming to symbolize the quiet peace his life possessed. His end, fading away quietly like a part of nature rather than struggling to be remembered by someone, makes one feel solemnity along with a deep lingering effect.
A Recommendation for the Weary Modern Soul
Train Dreams does not give a clear answer to the question "What is life to a human?" It merely shows that even in a life that seems very ordinary and insignificant, there existed love, pain, and dreams as vast as the universe. The dreams Robert dreamed while watching the train, and the short but brilliant moments he spent with his family, were not recorded in history, but they were eternally engraved in his soul. This film silently eloquently states the fact that each person's life is unique and cannot be lived by anyone else, and that living each day sincerely is valuable enough even without special achievements. I sincerely recommend this slow and quiet train journey to modern people tired of fast speeds and stimulation.
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