The Straight Story

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The Straight Story

DVD cover for The Straight Story
Directed by David Lynch
Produced by Pierre Edelman
Michael Polaire
Mary Sweeney
Written by John E. Roach
Mary Sweeney
Starring Richard Farnsworth
Sissy Spacek
Harry Dean Stanton
Editing by Mary Sweeney
Distributed by Walt Disney Pictures (USA}
FilmFour (UK)
Release date(s) May 21, 1999
Running time 112 min.
Language English
Budget $10,000,000 (estimated)
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

The Straight Story is a 1999 film directed by David Lynch. It is based on the true story of Alvin Straight's journey across Iowa and Wisconsin on a lawnmower. The film was edited and produced by Mary Sweeney, Lynch's longtime partner and co-worker. She co-wrote the script with John E. Roach.

The title of the film is a pun: it refers to Alvin's surname, but also refers to the story's seemingly straightforward nature, as compared to the complex, interweaving, mysterious plots of Lynch's other films.

Contents

[edit] Synopsis

Alvin Straight (Richard Farnsworth) is an elderly World War II veteran who lives with his daughter Rose (Sissy Spacek), a kind woman with a mental disability. When he hears that his estranged brother Lyle (Harry Dean Stanton) has suffered a stroke, he makes up his mind to go visit him and hopefully make amends before he dies. But because Alvin's legs and eyes are too impaired for him to receive a license, he hitches a trailer to his recently purchased thirty year-old John Deere Lawn Tractor and sets off on the 240-mile journey from Laurens, Iowa to Mount Zion, Wisconsin.

The film thus follows the story of Alvin's six-week journey across rural America, the people he meets, his impact on their lives, and theirs on his. It has been called a modern odyssey of a man dealing with his own mortality and mistakes and the lasting bonds of family.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Production

The Straight Story was independently shot along the actual route taken by Alvin Straight, and all scenes were shot in chronological order. An effect of this can be seen in the fact that there are no chapter markers on the DVD release, as David Lynch wanted the film to be watched as a whole.

Unlike his prior films (or any that would follow), "The Straight Story" was distributed by Walt Disney Pictures after a successful debut at Cannes, was given a "G" rating by the MPAA, and is the only film that Lynch did not write (although it was co-written by his recurring associate, Mary Sweeney).

Richard Farnsworth was terminally ill with bone cancer during the shooting of the film, which had caused the paralysis of his legs as shown in the film. He actually took the role out of admiration for Alvin Straight, and astonished his co-workers with his veracity during production. Because of the pain of his disease, Farnsworth committed suicide the following year, aged 80, at his home with a pistol.

[edit] Reaction

Many critics and fans were pleasantly surprised that a director who often deals in bizarre, abstract, and disturbing imagery opted to make such a simple, honest and touching film based on a true story. It currently holds a 95% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an 8.0 rating on IMDB.

[edit] Awards and nominations

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The Straight Story was the recipient of twelve awards and twenty-nine nominations.[1]

In 1999 David Lynch was nominated for the Golden Palm and Freddie Francis was nominated for the golden frog.

In 2000 Richard Farnsworth was nominated for the academy award for best actor. |- | 2000 | Bodil | Won | Best American Film: David Lynch |- | 2000 | British Independent Film Award | Won | Best Foreign Film - English Language |- | 2000 | CFCA Award | Nominated | Best Actor: Richard Farnsworth |- | Best Director: David Lynch |- | Best Picture |- | 2000 | Chlotrudis Award | Nominated | Best Actor: Richard Farnsworth |- | Best Cinematography: Freddie Francis |- | Best Supporting Actress: Sissy Spacek

Cinema Brazil Grand Prize Year Result Award Category/Recipient(s) 2003 Nominated Cinema Brazil Grand Prize Best Foreign Language Film (Melhor Filme Estrangeiro)


Cinema Writers Circle Awards, Spain Year Result Award Category/Recipient(s) 2001 Won CEC Award Best Foreign Film (Mejor Película Extranjera)


Csapnivalo Awards Year Result Award Category/Recipient(s) 2000 Nominated Golden Slate Best Art Movie


European Film Awards Year Result Award Category/Recipient(s) 1999 Won Screen International Award David Lynch USA

Fotogramas de Plata Year Result Award Category/Recipient(s) 2001 Won Fotogramas de Plata Best Foreign Film (Mejor Película Extranjera) David Lynch


Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival Year Result Award Category/Recipient(s) 1999 Won Jury Award Best Actor Richard Farnsworth


Golden Globes, USA Year Result Award Category/Recipient(s) 2000 Nominated Golden Globe Best Original Score - Motion Picture Angelo Badalamenti

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama Richard Farnsworth


Guldbagge Awards Year Result Award Category/Recipient(s) 2000 Nominated Guldbagge Best Foreign Film (Bästa utländska film) USA.

Humanitas Prize Year Result Award Category/Recipient(s) 2000 Nominated Humanitas Prize Feature Film Category John Roach Mary Sweeney


Independent Spirit Awards Year Result Award Category/Recipient(s) 2000 Won Independent Spirit Award Best Male Lead Richard Farnsworth

Nominated Independent Spirit Award Best Director David Lynch

Best Feature Mary Sweeney Neal Edelstein

Best First Screenplay John Roach Mary Sweeney


Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards Year Result Award Category/Recipient(s) 2000 Nominated Sierra Award Best Actor Richard Farnsworth

Best Cinematography Freddie Francis

Best Director David Lynch

Best Score Angelo Badalamenti

Best Supporting Actress Sissy Spacek


New York Film Critics Circle Awards Year Result Award Category/Recipient(s) 1999 Won NYFCC Award Best Actor Richard Farnsworth

Best Cinematographer Freddie Francis


Online Film Critics Society Awards Year Result Award Category/Recipient(s) 2000 Nominated OFCS Award Best Actor Richard Farnsworth

Best Cinematography Freddie Francis

Best Original Score Angelo Badalamenti


Robert Festival Year Result Award Category/Recipient(s) 2000 Won Robert Best American Film (Årets amerikanske film) David Lynch (director)


San Diego Film Critics Society Awards Year Result Award Category/Recipient(s) 1999 Won SDFCS Award Best Director David Lynch


Sant Jordi Awards Year Result Award Category/Recipient(s) 2001 Won Sant Jordi Best Foreign Film (Mejor Película Extranjera) David Lynch


Satellite Awards Year Result Award Category/Recipient(s) 2000 Nominated Golden Satellite Award Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama Richard Farnsworth

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role, Drama Sissy Spacek


Young Artist Awards Year Result Award Category/Recipient(s) 2000 Nominated Young Artist Award Best Family Feature Film - Drama


Richard Farnsworth earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for his portrayal of Alvin Straight, the oldest person ever to be nominated for a Best Actor Oscar.

[edit] Comparison with David Lynch's other works

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The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • The film features various "trademarks" which recur through many of Lynch's works. This includes the close-up image of a street moving past the camera, facial disfigurement, several allusions to coffee, lumber, fire, cigarette smoking and lightning, as well as a sense for small-town, rural life reminiscent of the positive aspects within other works such as Twin Peaks.
  • The beginning of this film parallels Lynch's Blue Velvet to an extent: both films begin with an elderly man collapsing at home on a sunny day in a nice, quiet town and remaining unnoticed by his family for some time before being sent to the hospital.
  • The ending of this film also parallels Lynch's The Elephant Man to another extent: both films end with starlit sky vision. Both explore the fundamental dilemma of identifying what constitutes a human and shapes one's possibilities.
  • Harry Dean Stanton and Everett McGill are frequently cast in Lynch's films.
  • Additionally, this is the third time McGill plays a mild-mannered, good-hearted mechanic (the first and second being his role as Big Ed in Twin Peaks and Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me.)
  • Sissy Spacek, who has a role as Straight's daughter, previously worked with Lynch by holding the slate between takes in the set of Eraserhead, in a favor to her future husband Jack Fisk, who starred in the same movie and produced this one.

[edit] References

  1. ^ The Straight Story (1999) - Awards

[edit] External links


v • d • e
The works of David Lynch
Feature films
Eraserhead (1977) • The Elephant Man (1980) • Dune (1984) • Blue Velvet (1986) • Wild at Heart (1990) • Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992) • Lost Highway (1997) • The Straight Story (1999) • Mulholland Dr. (2001) • Inland Empire (2006)
Short films
Television
Other work