New Images in My Own Private Idaho

I thought that from the beginning My Own Private Idaho created many new images. The opening scene was enticing and intrigued me to want to watch more of the film. It opens on a young man standing next to a road in the middle of nowhere. There are no other people and besides the road and a fence there are no signs of other people for miles. The image gives a very solitary feel and raises several questions about who the young man is, how he got there and what he’s doing there. 

Then the young man, who we later find out is the main character Mike, starts speaking, first just counting while he looks at his pocket watch and takes steps. Then he moves to the middle of the road and speaks about roads. The fact that he can stand in the middle of the road without any concern speaks to the remoteness of his location. The inserted shots of the landscape that break up the scene also show this vast remoteness. Mike’s monologue starts with “I always know where I am by the way the road looks.” Which seems like a silly statement given that there appears to be no landmarks of any kind on this particular road and it appears to be the same for miles in either direction. He goes on to describe the road as someone’s face, and this is referenced later in the film when Mike and Scott return to this road. 

The scene ends with Mike collapsing right in the middle of the road in a narcoleptic fit. He then has a dream sequence involving a woman (we assume is his mother) gently speaking words of comfort and running her hands through Mike’s hair. I thought that this was a very different but effective way to introduce a character and a film. I think it gives the viewer a good amount of information about Mike, his loneliness, his desire to be with his mother, and his vagabond ways. The unusual setting, odd monologue and short dream sequence all help to show the viewer who Mike is and it’s all done in a combination that I haven’t seen before.