THE SENSATION OF SIGHT is an offbeat drama about the search for meaning in a world of why’s. Finn (David Straithairn), an introspective English teacher, is suffering through a crisis of guilt triggered by the suicide of one of his students. Having voluntarily exiled himself from family and career to "work things out," he's currently living on the streets. Day after day, he drags a wagon through his small town selling encyclopedias to the town locals, each of whom is suffering his or her own crisis, each connected to another character in a way not immediately apparent to us. The film is a mesmerizing, funny, moving, frightening and exhilarating. But be forewarned, you must be willing to take the time to let it draw you in – it’s a jigsaw puzzle, and it takes awhile to see the whole picture. Straithairn, one of our finest and most versatile American actors, gives a remarkable performance. Every conceivable emotion, thought, confusion, amusement, and pain registers in his worn face. His story is the focus of the film, but around him is a marvelous, amusing, touching gallery of characters and performances – male and female, old, young, children, even a sad, mute ghost who, like the living characters he follows around, carry a burden that only Finn’s direct or peripheral assistance can help lighten as he struggles to heal his own withered soul.
THE SENSATION OF SIGHT (2006)
THE SENSATION OF SIGHT is an offbeat drama about the search for meaning in a world of why’s. Finn (David Straithairn), an introspective English teacher, is suffering through a crisis of guilt triggered by the suicide of one of his students. Having voluntarily exiled himself from family and career to "work things out," he's currently living on the streets. Day after day, he drags a wagon through his small town selling encyclopedias to the town locals, each of whom is suffering his or her own crisis, each connected to another character in a way not immediately apparent to us. The film is a mesmerizing, funny, moving, frightening and exhilarating. But be forewarned, you must be willing to take the time to let it draw you in – it’s a jigsaw puzzle, and it takes awhile to see the whole picture. Straithairn, one of our finest and most versatile American actors, gives a remarkable performance. Every conceivable emotion, thought, confusion, amusement, and pain registers in his worn face. His story is the focus of the film, but around him is a marvelous, amusing, touching gallery of characters and performances – male and female, old, young, children, even a sad, mute ghost who, like the living characters he follows around, carry a burden that only Finn’s direct or peripheral assistance can help lighten as he struggles to heal his own withered soul.
