The Man on the Train (2002)

Director: Patrice Leconte
Starring: Jean Rochefort, Johnny Hallyday, Isabelle Petit-Jacques

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If you don't like French films, I don't recommend this one. There is a distinct difference between the way an American makes a film and the way French director would, if you aren't aware. One can tell almost immediately after the first dialogue if a French film is going to "go Hollywood" or stay true to its own culture. If the first conversation takes place in a mundane environment (a supermarket, say) and two people discuss the existentialism of a banana or the disgusting bourgeois grapes, it's French. The Man on the Train is a French film, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Littered liberally throughout the film are discussions of poetry, painting and life philosophy. These are the kinds of conversations good friends might have over several years. How about two strangers over the course of a few days? Probably not. The premise of the film isn't that sound if we look at it in terms of reality, but the setup is good enough to let the filmmaker do what he wants to do. What he wants to do is look at two old men who've lived their lives but have been unsatisfied. The crook always wished he could've lived in a mansion and in poshness like his newfound friend. The wealthy retired poetry teacher wishes he'd been a cowboy. The film plays out like a cross between a Western where the stranger comes into town, assimilates, and begins to "set things straight" (a line quoted directly from the film) and Ingmar Bergman's Persona. It's like this except the stranger is looking back on his life, ready to retire and and the personality swaps between the two men have much less gravity than the switch in Persona. Picture Bergman with a sense of humor. The pacing of the film is slow, and I found myself bored during several parts. I'll be damned if I'm not still thinking about it, though. If you're in a contemplative mood, maybe pick this one up and try it on for size.

July 9
apartment TV, early afternoon

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