Common Themes In The Straight Story

1490 Words3 Pages

Speed is a common piece of American road movies. Characters are speeding away from something like the law in Thelma and Louise. Or they are speeding towards something like a mother in Paris, Texas. People are in a hurry to find or escape from whatever it is that is a part of their lives in these films. This is something that can connect to someone in real life. People are always in a hurry. They are rushing to through school or through work. People have a hard time slowing down. When people begin to slow down it is at a time when they realize that maybe they should have slowed down sooner. Slowing down is a common theme within the film The Straight Story. The Straight Story is a 1999 film directed by David Lynch. In this story a retired farmer …show more content…

Alvin is in his late 70s, he can barely see, and has a hard time walking, he moves slow. Alvin doesn’t hop into a car or bus and make it to his brothers in a day, he takes a slow route that he is in control of. This way is a lot longer then the other choices, but this choice creates a time for Alvin to think about his life and meet people. In a rushed world people forget to meet others and remember the past, people are too focused on moving forward and getting quickly to the next goal in their life. In Thelma and Louise they were quickly running away from the law and weren’t taking the time to really think about all of the options and outcomes of everything. Options were rushed and things could have potentially been different if things had been slowed …show more content…

To help the viewer understand the change of location or the length of time that has been traveled scenes looking at the sky would be used. Looking at something like Alvin and then looking to the sky to see the clouds blue skies, then looking backdown and realizing that the scenery around Alvin had changed. This style helps move Alvin along his journey without cutting different scenes together. Another type of shot is the tire meeting the road. A shot that can be seen in almost all of the road films we have viewed is seeing a tire rolling along the road. This shows the vehicle in motion. The vehicle, whether its a car or lawnmower, traveling down the long highway on its way to its next destination. It also can help show the speed at which the vehicle is moving. In films like Vanishing Point you can see the tires rotating at a fast speed. In The Straight Story the tires are moving at a slightly faster then walking

More about Common Themes In The Straight Story

Open Document