Trains, Plains and Automobiles By Garrett Lambur

Garrett Lambur

September 14, 2008

In the film that we recently watched one part that continually struck me personally was the use of methods of travel in the backdrop of almost all the scenes.  The dreams took place on a train, there were trams in the background of many scenes, they lived above a train track, and the last scene involved flying in a hot air balloon.  Some may look at these in terms of a schedule or keeping on track but I viewed them more as a representation of a journey.  Our time on this earth can be referred to as a journey but it may more than just one journey, it may be comprised of many different journey's.

The many different types of transportation within the film could each represent a different journey in our life.  If life was one consistent journey things could become quite mundane. Rather our life is filled with many different periods such as that of a teenager or a college student.  Each of these periods is not stagnant but rather is filled with personal growth that eventually roles into the next section of our life.  Each movement from one period to the next is similar to changing modes of transportation or say changing trains.

As they experienced trouble during the balloon ride in the movie, people will experience trouble with any period in life.  Scrambling for the lighter to relight the flame in the balloon is an extreme example of what can go wrong in different points of your life.  Cars can crash and lives can end.  Transportation is almost never an easy thing when traversing great distances and most people will experience trouble in their lives.  But traveling brings people together, whether they are traveling together or traveling to see each other.  Listening to Crash by Dave Matthews it becomes clearer to me.  The song contains lyrics "Crash into me," and perhaps that is exactly what happened with the Balloon.  The main characters were apart and struggling before the extravaganza in the Balloon that brought them back together.  It was not an easy journey with the Balloon  but at the end of the journey, the crashed into each other, bringing them back together.