35 Shots of Rum has a similar shot of a control board of trains as in the beginning of The Taking of Pelham 123 although this one pans out to be much bigger. This is very much a railfan movie with a plot. There are multiple shots from the perspective of an RER train engineer (one of the main characters) as the train moves through the suburbs of Paris. (Yes, the movie in French.)
Here is one of the trailers, although unfortunately the one where the train conductor says that he is NOT drinking does not have English subtitles:
This is very much a film with the rhythm of a train journey. There is never a time when nothing is happening, but everything happens at its own speed. The train moves with the same rhythm that the family that is the focus of the film changes, a family that changes from a father and daughter into two couples who are oriented toward the outside world.
I was lucky enough to see this on TV, but if you missed it, you can still see it on the Link TV website.
In a sense this a remake of Late Spring by Yasujiro Ozu. In fact, the cityscape as a character is apparently something that director Clair Denis took from Ozu. Denis and Ozu are probably most alike in their sense of the visual. One of the actors said that Claire Denis choreographs her actors as much as she directs them. This may be what makes the movement of the train fit so well with the rest of the film.
Finally, here is a gentleman who is as attractive as Alex Descas, but who is a real train conductor on the RER:
2 comments:
We just watched a film called "Sin Nombre" which had a lot of beautiful train scenes in Latin America.
Thanks for the tip. I will put it on my list of films to review or you could write something and I could put it up here.
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