With summer in full swing, we prepare for some of the most painful months in American history.
A layer of pain is the mismanagement of the coronavirus in our country, a failure with catastrophic effects that will last well into the new year.
A momentary layer of pain is the constant pursuit of social justice and racial equality. Americans continue to take to the streets to protest, but unlike civil rights protests, when federal troops were sent to the demonstrators, federal troops were sent this time to confront them. These scenes are also likely to remain in the headlines over the next few months.
The third layer of pain will be the accumulation of elections, as television ads will increasingly attack us with accusations that paint would-be would-be, stupid, in the wallet of foreign governments, tyrannicals, women’s aggressors and more.
Except in times of war, I don’t see a moment in American history when watching daily news penetrates our souls more and more. But the purpose of this editorial is not to remind us of those layers of pain, but to present a film that provides a healing balm.
I have to thank my filmmaker son for recommending “Driveways”, a film that you can have online and that scored almost one hundred percent on the critical site Rotten Tomatoes. My son promised my mom and I that once we started watching, we’d watch the movie to the end. He was right.
To not reveal anything, I will describe the setup of the film, a little bit about the actors and my wife and my reactions to the film.
It is possible that the film has simply taken place anywhere in the United States, the naming corridors are the area between the area of a recently deceased Vietnamese hoarder and the next home of an elderly Korean War veteran. This symbol brings back memories of Grand Torino, but Driveways temporarily takes another direction.
We never know the dead Vietnamese woman. Instead, the film begins with the arrival of the woman’s little sister and nephew, who came here to leave the space blank and sell it.
He did not know Hong Chau, who played sister and mother, Lucas Jaye, who played his 10-year-old son or Andrew Ahn, the principal. I met the brilliant Brian Dennehy, who, in one of his last roles, played Del, the Korean War veteran.
It’s a film in which silences speak louder and deeper than dialogue. The faces of the 3 main actors are expressive because the 3 respond subtly to the other’s small gestures.
“Small gestures”. Yes, “Driveways” is definitely a film about it, however, its genius lies in exploring the emotions and decisions that made those gestures. While some movies leave my wife and me feeling that we have to shower to remove the grain of sand, “Allées” left us feeling that we had been washed. I know that my wife and I also felt that “Driveways” challenged us to be more aware of the strength of the small gestures, won and delivered, to heal the soul.
So in the painful months that followed, when we want food for the soul, look at “Alleys” for the main course and, as I shared in a previous editorial, look at “The Repair Shop” for dessert.
Enjoy your meal!
Franklin’s David Carlson is a professor of philosophy and religion. Send your to [email protected].