Returning home is an important theme shown in "My Own Private Idaho" *Spoiler alert

Spoiler alert, sadness and warmth in the last scene

The journey of the main character Mike in this work is incredibly emotional. When she goes to her brother's house with her best friend Scott, she learns that her mother was a dangerous person. And it turns out that his biological father was actually the person he thought of as his "older brother." In addition to the crisis of identity collapse, his beloved best friend Scott also disappears before his eyes. Mike's situation is so tragic that even Shakespeare would turn pale.

At the end, Mike returns to the deserted streets from the beginning, where he suffers a bout of narcolepsy and collapses into a coma. Two men passing by steal his bag and shoes and leave. The next man passing by picks him up while he's sleeping, puts him in his car, and leaves. Judging from the car, this latter man must be my older brother. Mike, like Scott, returns to his family. Isn't it the natural flow of this work to interpret it that way?

"My Own Private Idaho" (c)Photofest / Getty Images

With the caption “have a nice day” in between, the movie moves on to the end credits. The featured song is " Old Main Drag " by The Pogues , a band that was a huge hit in the UK in the 1980s for their fusion of Irish trad and punk rock. The lyrics, ``I want to escape from this dull life of earning some money from rich old men in the back streets. But I keep coming back to it,'' are heartbreaking.

Life is a repetition of good and bad things. Sometimes tragedies occur one after the other, like with Mike. My loved ones leave me one after another. There are many gods around me who abandon me. However, there are also gods who pick them up. If the pair of thieves are the ``gods of throwing things away,'' the family is the ``gods of picking things up.'' There is no doubt that "going home" is a major theme of this work. Even looking back on it now, this theme still resonates with me.

Returning home safely - isn't this a valid theme even in the era of coronavirus? It is precisely because of this universality that I declare ``My Own Private Idaho'' a masterpiece. Now that I've seen this movie again, maybe I should just say, "Have a nice day" instead of arguing about it.

Text: Manabu Soma

After working as an information magazine editor, became a freelance writer. He writes articles and reviews for magazines such as ``SCREEN,'' ``DVD & Video Distribution,'' and ``Cinema Square,'' as well as theater pamphlets and the movie site ``Cinema Today.'' Currently appearing on Star Channel "GO! Theater". I host club events as a hobby.

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"My Own Private Idaho"

Blu-ray ¥2,990 + tax / DVD ¥1,429 + tax

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(c) 1991 New Line Productions, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

(c) Photofest / Getty Images