“Farnsworth’s easy, twinkle eyed charm is a winner all the way, but it’s finally the film’s deceptive simplicity and unabashed warmth that make it one of Lynch’s most artistically and emotionally satisfying movies.”
Screened in tribute to David Lynch (1946 - 2025)
A retired farmer and widower in his 70s, Alvin Straight (Richard Farnsworth) learns that his estranged brother Lyle (Harry Dean Stanton) has suffered a stroke and may not recover. Determined to put things right while he still can, but possessing neither car nor driving licence, Alvin sets off on the cross-country trek from Iowa to Wisconsin on his old lawnmower, thus putting in motion a picturesque and at times deeply spiritual odyssey… While The Straight Story may seem conventional by David Lynch’s standards, the director called it his “most experimental film” (perhaps with a twinkle in his eye as he did so).
