David Lynch directed a G-rated movie for Disney

The late David Lynch has always been best known for his fascination with the grotesque. Although Lynch never considered himself a surrealist, his films often veered toward the surreal, presenting a dark, twisted version of reality where only dream logic applies. His debut feature, Eraserhead he once described it as “a dream of dark and disturbing things.” Many celebrated his controversial 1986 neo-noir Blue Velvet, a film full of murder, gore and aggressive sexuality. He deconstructed soap opera dynamics with his somnambulistic TV series (and subsequent feature film version) Twin Peaks, went on a lusty crime spree with Wild Hearts, and made a shadowy meditation on shifting identities in his 1997 porn film. the film “Lost Highway”.

Then, in 1999, Lynch did the most amazing thing he could do. He directed a G-rated biopic for Disney.

For The Straight Story, Lynch abandoned his usual obsession with sex, death and violence and instead made a quiet, slow, incredibly tender film about an elderly man longing to reconnect with his estranged brother. The film told the true story of Alvin Straight, a 73-year-old Iowan who can tell a fascinating story. It seems that in 1994, Alvin’s brother Henry suffered a stroke and barely survived. Alvin wanted to go to his brother, but a series of illnesses, as well as poor eyesight, deprived him of his driver’s license and prevented him from driving. Undeterred, Alvin knew he could still legally operate his 1966 John Deere riding mower, a vehicle with a top speed of five miles per hour. He rode his mower all the way from Iowa to Blue River, Wisconsin, where Henry lived. The 261-mile journey took Alvin six weeks.

Lynch cast retired actor Richard Farnsworth as Alvin and delivered a vivid, laid-back, slow-paced story about family, travel and the heart of America. Despite the material, this is very much a David Lynch film.