:: L'Homme Du Train (Man On The Train)

Man on the Train is a small, contained film, filled with silences and the quiet dreams of men. Johnny Halliday, a French rock star, plays Milan, the man on the train who gets off at a small French town in order to rob the bank. He meets Manesquier (Rochefort) by chance and ends up staying at his house, an old chateau that is much like Manesquier himself, dignified but falling apart, as he is due for heart surgery on the very same day that Milan plans his robbery. The two men bond over baguettes and realise they would love to have led each other’s lives.

This is a very male film, but a certain kind of man, a stoic, old world gentleman, that has certain out of date ideas about women- one comment to Manesquier’s lady friend is quite offensive yet does not seem to be treated as such.

Patrice Leconte has made some varied films in his career, from the restoration comedy Ridicule to the black and white pretensions of Girl on the Bridge, and this is not his best work. It is made touching by the moving performance of Jean Rochefort (what a pity that we will never see him as Terry Gilliam’s Don Quixote). His lined and dignified face holds humour, sorrow and longing with grace and sympathy. Johnny Halliday’s hardened face says much about his character without him needing to speak. He makes a very interesting counterpart to Rochefort though he is given less to work with. I would have liked to know more about his history, for he does not have a house to tell the story for him, and seems to be a drifter, with nothing holding him down.

Whilst the film plays as realism throughout, the ending becomes more poetic, a number of readings are possible and it is not about what actually happens with the bank robbery or the heart surgery but the unlikely bond between these two men. It is a slight premise for a film, and I do not envisage a Hollywood remake, but it is worth seeing for Rochefort alone.