Driver - Getting into the carriage of death is no one's dream
Well, heck, Selma Lagerlöf's "Ajomies" is such a story that if someone likes the combination of death and horror hits the back of their head, then this work is just for you. This book is about how death drives you, and it's damn dark, but hey, let the sprinkles ring, as they say, you can't move forward by fearing it. It's a story about how the last dead person of the year takes on the role of a chauffeur and carries the souls of the dead in the chariot of death. Just an empty set, the weaker ones will fall on the first pages.
Nonni, this driver's position always changes to the one who happens to be the last one to throw the balls at the turn of the year. It's no easy task, but it has to be handled somehow. David Holm, this main character, is the kind of drunk who just happens to die on New Year's Eve, and then fuck it, he becomes the driver. Just like when this guy is already full of shit and shit in his life, of course he will still be given the responsibility of death. That's not it, it's probably a good thing that no one asked for volunteers.
This work, which has also been made into a movie, deals a lot with Christian themes, such as forgiveness and repentance. I mean, really, if you're not apologizing before you die, well, just wait, you'll soon be riding with Death and then there's no more apologizing. Well, this isn't good news, but damn it, what else did you expect from a horror movie and book? This part of Lagerlöf does take the subject to heart, neither the reader nor the viewer is cold as hell at the point when the driver takes the reins.
Come on, imagine sitting in a stroller. It has this grim reaper next to it, and the cart pulls the souls of the dead with it when they are retrieved from the world. Nothing light, not really. In this story, David has to go through his own life, and damn it, it's no small review. Everything it has done - good and bad - will come out. This is the moment when many people realize that you shouldn't have thought about what has been done before it's too late. Well, not just towards the other side, even if you don't want that in any damn way.
Well, there's also something about Ajomiehe, that it's brutally nightmarish. That is, the kind of dreams that you want to wake up from, but damn, you can't. The visions that David Holm experiences are so damn weird, you're not scared at that point. But there they are - all the dead that you, as a driver, are carrying forward. This whole thing revolves around the fact that even though this David has made some pretty brutal mistakes in his life, forgiveness and regret are the things that will ultimately resolve.
Victor Sjöström's film, which is based on this story, is also a damn well-known work. It came out already in 1921, and it was one of the hardest hits during the golden age of silent cinema. So it has a sense of timelessness. Such old movies, where there is no need for dialogue, they hit directly where the emotions really live. Sjöström made that movie just like that, et lempo soikoin, it sticks in my mind.
The driver's story is one that you won't easily forget. Although it is scary, and its imagery is brutally dark, it has a deep message. It tells about how we live our life, and where that life takes us when the last moment comes. You should probably think about how you behave and treat others before you come to pick up those strollers. These thoughts are by no means terribly light, but they are a part of life, as this story shows so well.
