Clint Bentley’s Train Dreams is, without a doubt, one of the most beautiful films of the year, and I would even dare to say, of recent years. Adolpho Veloso is a master at his craft, and he created an outstanding visual signature for Denis Johnson’s novella adaptation. Whether you connected with the story or not, the visual poetry of the film is undeniable, and it deserves all the recognition it can get. 

When watching the film, you wouldn’t assume that cinematographer Adolpho Veloso shot it digitally with the ARRI Alexa 35. Yet he explained in an interview with the Motion Picture Association last November, “It has a huge dynamic range that allowed us to shoot with natural light and make things feel organic even though it’s a digital medium.” With a hectic twenty-nine-day shooting schedule, Bentley and Veloso agreed it would be more efficient to shoot digitally, even though they both originally wanted to shoot on physical film. This final choice allowed them to embrace natural light fully, creating images that feel alive, textured, and deeply organic even though it wasn’t film.

“The conversation with Clint was always about finding an interesting way to portray nature, so one way to do that was to shoot nature as if it were another character in the movie.”

In Train Dreams, the forest emerges as a character in its own. From the very first frame, the audience is led through a passageway into the forest — quiet, beautiful, and incredibly peaceful. “It was essential to capture nature in all its beauty — and also in its danger,” Veloso mentioned in a behind-the-scenes with TUDUM. From intimate close-ups on faces to wide shots of towering trees, the use of natural light gives the images a richness and texture that feels deeply real, creating a genuine emotional connection with what we are watching. Veloso names Dorothea Lange’s work as a major influence: “Her pictures from the Great Depression — trying to capture beauty within all that desperation.” Graignier’s living conditions weren’t always easy; he had no idea where he came from, who his parents were, or even the day he was born. He had to leave for months, away from his family, working long physical hours, flirting with death every day. And yet, the film captures all the beauty of this life — however dangerous, simple, and ordinary it may have been. This film is so visually stunning, you could watch it with no sound and still be deeply moved by its quiet sense of nostalgia.

To enhance this sense of nostalgia, the filmmakers chose the 3:2 aspect ratio, reminiscent of old photographs. Veloso explained in his Motion Picture Association interview, “We looked at old photographs of logging from that [1920s] era, and that sparked the idea of using the 3:2 aspect ratio.” Every frame carries that sense of memory, of a time long gone, yet somehow vividly present. In an interview with Variety, Veloso talked about early conversations he had with Bentley, asking themselves “How to make this movie feel like you’re watching someone’s memories?“ Not only does the framing enhance how vast, impressive, and imposing the forest and its trees are, it also makes it feel dreamlike, like life passing by, or a distant memory.

“I think people feel more nostalgic at sunset. It sparks something in the way our brains remember things.”

One scene between Joel Edgerton and Kerry Condon is particularly striking — one of the most beautiful frames I’ve seen in a film this year. Silhouetted against a sunset, the two characters share a silent moment. The sun bathes the frame in warm gold, turning it into something that feels almost suspended in time. Even if it deepens the weight of the scene, you wouldn’t need to hear their conversation, this single frame is enough to make us feel everything. And that’s just one example among countless frames that could convince anyone that Veloso’s work deserves recognition from the Academy this year.

As someone who grew up in a small town surrounded by forests and tall pines, I am in complete admiration of Veloso’s work. For anyone who grew up in places that look like paintings, with forests almost too beautiful to be real, there’s something deeply familiar in the way Train Dreams captures nature. Through natural light and wide compositions, the film reflects that specific kind of beauty. It taps into the feeling of being held by nature — finding comfort in its stillness while also understanding how unforgiving it can be. From the very first frames, it brings us home, purely through the way it looks and the emotions those shots evoke.

If anyone is deserving of an Academy Award nomination for what he visually crafted, it’s Adolpho Veloso.

Train Dreams is now streaming on Netflix.
You can read our reviewhere.