Originally published in 2002, Denis Johnson’s novella Train Dreams chronicles the life of a logger who slips in and out of the world without a trace. An orphan with no knowledge of his birthplace or family lineage, Robert Grainier doesn’t have a history as much as he merely lives through it. He helps build the railroads that crisscross the country; when physically unable to maintain his arduous, itinerant lifestyle, he performs a series of odd jobs in his adopted home of Bonners Ferry, Idaho. He marries a woman, has a child and just as quickly loses them both in a […]
by Vikram Murthi on Sep 17, 2025
Films are made over many days, but some days are more memorable, and important, than others. Imagine yourself in ten years looking back on this production. What day from your film’s development, production or post do you think you’ll view as the most significant and why? I think it would have to be the first scene we shot. We were filming in a beautiful cabin we had built on location in eastern Washington, and Joel Edgerton and Felicity Jones were just starting to bring their characters to life. What was scripted as a simple dialogue-free moment naturally grew into a […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 26, 2025