TEHRAN- “Train Dreams”, a 2025 drama movie by American filmmaker Clint Bentley, will be reviewed at the Arasbaran Cultural Center in Tehran on Wednesday evening. 

Film critic Amir Qaderi is set to attend a screening of the film followed by a review session.

"Train Dreams" narrates the remarkable 80-year journey of Robert Grainier, set against the rugged landscapes of Bonners Ferry, Idaho. His story begins when he arrives in the area as a young orphan, having traveled alone on the Great Northern Railway. Without parents or guidance, Robert drops out of school and drifts aimlessly through life, haunted by a sense of loss and uncertainty. His life takes a turn when he meets Gladys Olding, and the two marry. Together, they build a humble log cabin along the Moyie River and are blessed with a daughter, Kate, anchoring Robert’s existence with love and family.

Initially, Robert finds work in railroad construction for the Spokane International Railway. His days are marked by hard labor and the harsh realities of frontier life. During this period, he witnesses a tragic and confusing act of violence when a Chinese worker is thrown off a bridge by a group of white workers. The incident leaves a lasting impression on Robert, who is haunted by visions of the man and dreams of him being struck by a train. The trauma of this event, along with the brutality he witnesses, begins to seep into his consciousness.

Later, Robert turns to seasonal logging, a job that takes him away from his family for long stretches. Throughout his logging years, he encounters many men whose lives and deaths leave indelible marks on him. His closest companion in the woods, Arn Peeples, dies after being struck by a falling branch, deepening Robert’s sense of mortality and loss.

As the post-World War I economy falters, Robert struggles to find work closer to home. He and Gladys decide to pursue farming and establish a lumber mill, hoping to escape the dangers of logging. Yet, tragedy strikes when Robert returns from his final logging season to find their cabin destroyed by wildfire, and Gladys and Kate gone without a trace. Devastated, Robert is comforted by his friend Ignatius Jack, and he rebuilds his life by constructing a new cabin. Despite his efforts, he feels increasingly displaced by advancing technology and the rougher, younger men he now encounters in the woods, leading him to abandon logging altogether.

He then takes a job as a carriage driver, a role that introduces him to Claire Thompson of the U.S. Forest Service. Claire encourages him to reconnect with the forest and his surroundings. Robert often walks through the woods, believing he can feel the spirits of Gladys and Kate nearby, and he fears driving them away. One night, he dreams he sees an injured Kate return to the cabin, tending her wounds, but upon waking, finds no evidence of her presence. Resolving to stay in the cabin in case she ever returns, Robert continues his solitary life.

As years pass, the world around him transforms. The story culminates on a spring day when Robert, now old and weathered, decides to fly in a biplane. As the plane loops through the sky, memories of his life flash before him—people, places, and moments that have shaped his existence. The narrator reveals that Robert died peacefully in his sleep in his cabin in November 1968, leaving no heirs. Yet, on that spring day in the sky, he finally feels connected to the world and to all that he has experienced, as if finally understanding his place in the vast continuum of life.

SAB/