Night Train

A bit heavy on the 'melo' with the drama, but interesting. And it's on a train (obviously) so that's an automatic attraction for me.

led me to think of "slnko v sieti" in its melancholy. how are we so fast to pass judgement onto others?

Em honra do centenário de Jerzy Kawalerowicz. É meu Kawalerowicz e ele de fato é um cineasta bem impressivo, aqui ele aplica uma elegância quase hitchcockiana no balançar entre o erotismo e o crime, mas de uma forma mais profunda do que se imaginaria num filme popular, é o frame da janela do trem se transformando em cinema. BlurayRip no MakingOff.

Kawalerowicz is a talented director, and this is a well-crafted little film that succeeds in conveying the slightly uncanny atmosphere of its setting. The subtitles in the version watched were inferior, but it seemed to concern the loneliness of atomisation and the reactions that can produce, both sexually and at the level of crowd psychology. Coincidentally, eight years later one of the players, while running to jump aboard a moving train just like in this film, would be struck and killed.

I was expecting a straight thriller and while the film does have suspense, it's more of a character study. Stylistically it predates the French & Czech new waves and feels surprisingly fresh. While there's no nudity, it's sexual innuendo is ahead of it's time. Haunting and jazzy score provides strong support and reminded me of later Italian scores. Winnicka is striking and rest of the cast is fine as well. It's an unique entry among "train films" and does a great job capturing the atmosphere.

While less ambitious than Kawalerowicz's 60's films, Night Train nonetheless is an extremely well made drama with thriller elements that is rich in atmosphere. The main characters are well developed and have some complexity, and allegorical leanings don't overwhelm its surface simplicity, which could be misconstrued as style over substance. However, there is a definite perspective being here explored about the social isolation of people, and the mood dovetails neatly with the social commentary.