“The worst part about being old is remembering when you were young” – Alvin Straight.
.Yesterday I sang the praises of James Joyce’s short story The Dead which contains the affirmation that it is “better pass boldly into the other world, in the full glory of some passion, than fade and wither dismally with age”.
This truth of this sentiment is enacted in David Lynch’s unique road movie The Straight Story which he made in 1999 and which I have just watched for a second time.
It is based on the true story of Alvin Straight (1920 – 1996) who, being unable to drive, decided to travel 390 km (240 miles) from Iowa to Wisconsin on a lawn tractor to see his estranged brother, Lyle, who he learns has suffered a stroke.
This is more than the extravagant fulfilment of a family obligation; Alvin, aged 73 and in a poor state of health, also wanted to prove to himself that he was capable of meeting such a challenge – “I want to finish the way I started” he says after refusing to accept a lift for the last stage of the journey from a kindly stranger.
When he finally arrives at his destination after six weeks on the road, there’s a wonderful moment when Lyle (Harry Dean Stanton) looks incredulously at Alvin’s bizarre vehicle: “did you come all the way to see me on that?” he asks with tears in his eyes.
After a falling out, it had been ten years since the two brothers had spoken but from this brief scene on the porch of Lyle’s rundown shack we know that they will patch things up again and that Alvin will fulfil his dream of sitting with Lyle and to “look up at the stars like we used to do”. This explains why, in the opening and closing shots of the movie, the camera is pointing into the night sky.
The movie becomes all the more poignant when you learn that Richard Farnsworth, the actor who played Alvin, was terminally ill with bone cancer at the time the film was being made. This means that he didn’t need to act when filming scenes where it was hard for him to move or sit. Less than one year after the film was completed he took his own life rather than endure more pain.
During his career, David Lynch has faced more than his fair share of misguided criticism. With varying degrees of intensity, he has been accused of making cold, confusing, gratuitously violent, sick, depraved and misogynistic movies. Anyone with half a mind to, could find examples to justify these charges in most of his other films with the possible exception of Elephant Man.
Although based on a bizarre true story, these same critics would find no ammunition in The Straight Story. Lynch tells the story straight and rightly judges that there is no need to add any surreal touches. (It also boasts a lyrical score by long-term collaborator Angelo Badalamenti). To further emphasise its suitability for a family audience the movie was distributed by Walt Disney Pictures.
By showing admirable restraint and great humanity, Lynch shows another side to his cinematic genius. In the process he succeeds in making one of the best ever movies about growing old.
