One of the year’s most beautiful, aching films is Clint Bentley’s Train Dreams, a Denis Johnson adaptation that premiered at Sundance Film Festival. With a cast featuring Joel Edgerton, Felicity Jones, Nathaniel Arcand, Clifton Collins Jr., John Diehl, Paul Schneider, Kerry Condon, William H. Macy, and narration by Will Patton, Netflix has now unveiled the first trailer ahead of a November 7 theatrical and November 21 Netflix release.
Here’s the synopsis: “Based on Denis Johnson’s beloved novella, Train Dreams is the moving portrait of Robert Grainier, a logger and railroad worker who leads a life of unexpected depth and beauty in the rapidly-changing America of the early 20th Century.”
Dan Mecca in his Sundance review, “There is a moment in Train Dreams, directed by Clint Bentley, where a tree gracefully falls to the earth, surrounded by lush green. Particles explode from the impact, the sunlight illuminating these small, insignificant specs. As the frame holds for an extra few seconds, these particles gleam as beautiful as anything else in the image. It’s a powerful exclamation that underlines the larger theme of the film: there are wonders both big and small. Tragedy, too, and who will remember any of it? And, perhaps more importantly, does it matter if anybody does?”
“I think most of us will never have some great impact on history and yet we will lead very, very deep and beautiful lives. There’s something very special about [Robert Grainier’s] story in that it is so specific to this one person’s life, and yet there’s a universality to it of a person trying to navigate a world that’s changing around them constantly — kind of leaving you behind, even as you’re still alive,” Bentley said.
See the trailer below.
