|
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| Have
you ever wished you had a different life? Maybe one with more excitement?
Or perhaps without so much trouble? In Patrice Laconte's film, Man
on the Train, two men meet in a chance encounter, spend time together,
and see in the other what is missing in their own lives. |
MAN
ON THE TRAIN
(L' Homme du train, 2002)
Film Review by Darrel Manson |
| This
page was created on June 13, 2003
This page was last updated on
May 29, 2005
—Review
—Trailers, Photos
—About this Film
—Spiritual Connections
—Forum
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| CREDITS |
| Directed
by Patrice Leconte
Screenplay by Claude Klotz
Jean Rochefort .... Monsieur Manesquier
Johnny Hallyday .... Milan
Jean-François Stévenin .... Luigi
Charlie Nelson .... Max
Pascal Parmentier .... Sadko
Isabelle Petit-Jacques .... Viviane
Edith Scob .... Manesquier's Sister
Maurice Chevit .... Hairdresser
Riton Liebman .... Burly Guy
Olivier Fauron .... Schoolboy
Véronique Kapoyan .... Baker
Elsa Duclot .... Waitress
Armand Chagot .... Gardener
Michel Laforest .... Pharmacist
Alain Guellaff .... Surgeon
Hélène Chambon .... Radiologist Nurse
Sophie Durand .... Operating Room Nurse
Jean-Louis Vey .... Verlin
Sébastien Bonnet .... Burly Guy's Friend
Jean-Jacques Cornillon .... Bank Manager
Produced
by
Christophe Audeguis .... executive producer
Philippe Carcassonne .... producer
Carl Clifton .... co-producer
Original Music by Pascal Estève
Cinematography by Jean-Marie Dreujou
Film Editing by Joëlle Hache
MPAA: Rated R for some language and brief violence.
Runtime: 90 min
For rating reasons, go to FILMRATINGS.COM,
and MPAA.ORG.
Parents, please refer to PARENTALGUIDE.ORG
|
| TRAILERS
AND CLIPS |
| —Trailers,
Photos |
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| SYNOPSIS
|
 In
a sleepy French backwater, a train pulls into a deserted station,
depositing a lone passenger: a grizzled man in a fringed leather
jacket. He looks like a criminal, albeit an aging criminal, a man
who has never before asked questions of life or made deep connections
with anybody, arriving for a final showdown, and he is. But, within
minutes, he bumps into a local retired poetry teacher in dapper
clothes, a man who looks like someone waiting for something exciting
to happen, who appears perfectly settled in his life, and he was…until
now. Suddenly, these two disparate men are about to find, at the
very end of the line, an unexpected friendship, an opportunity to
look back on their dashed hopes, and a magical, momentary chance
to explore the road not taken.
Patrice
Leconte’s award-winning Man on the Train is a simple, humor-filled
tale that resonates with deeper themes of friendship and fate, of
longing and regret and most of all, of the passage of time and the
choices we make. It is the story of two men who might never have
met but for an accident, who appear to have nothing in common, yet
who change each other’s view of life at the last possible
moment.
When
the criminal Milan (French rock icon Johnny Hallyday) rolls into
town planning to knock off the local bank on Saturday, he assumes
it will go off without a hitch. Then he encounters Manesquier (leading
French actor Jean Rochefort). A retired poetry teacher whose sedentary
lifestyle bores even himself, Manesquier offers Milan a much-needed
drink of water in his musty old chateau. The only thing they seem
to share is that Manesquier, too, has an important date on Saturday;
but his is for open-heart surgery.
From
the start, the two men are equally wary of the other. Manesquier
senses that Milan is up to no good, while Milan is driven crazy
by Manesquier’s incessant talking. But, when Milan is forced
to hole up in Manesquier’s mansion until the robbery, the
distance between them begins to disappear.
Suddenly,
Manesquier wonders what it would be like to trade his books and
art for Milan’s gun and life of adventure. Meanwhile, Milan
covets Manesquier’s bedroom slippers and cozy life of stability.
As their friendship develops, surprising moments of humor and tenderness
emerge, as each seemingly defies his personality to explore his
yearning for the life of the other.
Saturday
arrives. Milan and Manesquier have no choice but to part ways and
head towards their different destinies. But even their destinies
are no longer the same, for their very dreams have become intertwined. |
REVIEW
By Darrel Manson
Pastor,
Artesia Christian Church, Artesia, CA
http://netministries.org/see/churches/ch01198
Darrel
has an incredible love and interest in the cinematic arts. His reviews
usually include independent and significantly important film. |
 Have
you ever wished you had a different life? Maybe one with more excitement?
Or perhaps without so much trouble? In Patrice Laconte's film, Man
on the Train, two men meet in a chance encounter, spend time together,
and see in the other what is missing in their own lives.
Milan (played by 60s French rock star Johnny Hallyday) gets off
the train in a small town planning on robbing the bank. Going into
a pharmacy to get aspirin, he meets Manesquier (played by one of
France's great actors, Jean Rochefort), a lonely, retired literature
teacher. Since the hotel is closed for the season, Manesquier welcomes
Milan into his home for a few days. The two are yin and yang. Manesquier
is loquacious, organized, somewhat cultured, and settled. Milan
is sullen, rough edged, and a drifter.
 As
the two spend time together, they begin to envy the other's life.
Manesquier tries on Milan's leather jacket and plays Wyatt Earp
in the mirror. Milan wants to wear a pair of slippers and smoke
Manesquier's pipe. Little by little they try to appropriate the
parts of each other's life that appeals to them. Could they actually
swap lives?
It is easy to understand how Milan might envy Manesquier's simple
life and security. At the same time, for a man whose day to day
life is so mundane, a bit of danger and adventure could be appealing.
We don't see the choices or influences that lead each to the life
that had become what it was. We only see them when they have each
reached a point in life when they see what they are and what they
are not. They don't speak of regretting what they have become, but
they seem to sense that the other has what is missing from their
own lives.
It is probably normal for us to find the things missing from our
lives as attractive. In the case of these two men, it may be too
late for such a drastic change. Maybe if they had met years earlier
they might have made adjustments that would have satisfied them.
Instead, it seems as though they just have an opportunity to dream
of a taste of what could have been.
 I
was struck, as I watched, with the thought of those in our lives
that have what we do not and how we often try to find that quality
and make it our own. We might try to pattern some part of our life
after Jesus (WWJD?) or any number of saints through the ages or
after more secular heroes. Often all we do is try on the jacket
and act in front of a mirror. Life change is never merely superficial.
It means a radical shift. But that shift can be what brings us new
life. |
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