Straight Story
Straight story is a road film that is quite different from the usual or main road films that we have seen so far. It is different in a sense that in all the other road films, our main leads had a strong vehicle like bike in Easy Rider, or Bus in Pricilla, or a car in Little Miss sunshine, etc. Basically, in all the previous road films that we have seen so far dealt with strong vehicles. In this movie, the main character Alvin drove a lawn mower turned into a tractor, which was very funny. He drove that thing and spends about 16 weeks just to get to Wisconsin. This road film is also different from others in a sense that in this movie, our main character is not running away or trying to get rid of something. Instead, this movie is about a person getting to know himself. It is a sense of "becoming". Throughout the road, Alvin meets decent people on the road like that pregnant girl and the nice couple who gives Alvin a shelter when almost gotten into an accident. The scenery of this film was also quite different. In this movie, there was only the rural side. The environment is very quite, no traffics, not much vehicles around, farms all over the place, and nice calm people around the neighborhood. So, the experience that Alvin gets in this road film is very different from what others get in other road films. This could have been because of the rural side, Alvin's age, and sex. People that he meets on the road doesn't take him as someone who is dangerous and harmful. That could have been becuase of his age and also his health status. Alvin is a person who has knee problems and it's very likely that he won't be able to harm anyone. Through this 16 weeks, Alvin has all the time to think about his life and reflect upon what he has achieved and what he still needs to accomplish and things that he could do to make things better. The biggest lessont that he learns is when two brothers in this film have an argument and Alvin comes to make sense to them. However, what Alvin learns and sees is his own mistakes. So, I guess sometimes you don't see your mistake unless you see it in action from other people. Then, you are seeing someone else do it and you can remember that you have done that mistake previously and reflect upon the changes that you could make. Because, it's easy to comment on other people's mistakes and not yours own. So, when you comment on others, you realize that you have to listen careful to what you said and follow it yourself. this is the lesson that Alvin learns in the end.
For some reason, I think this could be quite similar to Vagabond. I mean, the main character does go around rural areas. one difference is that she has no vehicle at all. She is constantly hitch hiking. she is a girl and young. But, this movie is not about "becoming". Because the character doesn't learn any lessons, and dies.