Two Cents is an original column akin to a book club for films. The Cinapse team will program films and contribute our best, most insightful, or most creative thoughts on each film using a maximum of 140 words each. Guest writers and fan comments are encouraged, as are suggestions for future entries to the column. Join us as we share our two cents on films we love, films we are curious about, and films we believe merit some discussion.
The Pick
YOU THERE! Turn out your pants pockets. Just as I suspected, your Two Cents are slick with oil. Sabotage, Colonel! It’s an old trick around here.
Welcome to Two Cents! This week Brendan Foley invites us to climb aboard John Frankenheimer’s The Train, in which the French Resistance sets out to stop a train full of stolen art headed to Nazi Germany.
While not especially famous and rarely mentioned among the great war films, The Train has actually met with nearly universal critical acclaim. Weirdly, it also inspired a 1987 computer game which, unlike the film, looks like it could cure insomnia (no, really). These days, the film seems to be steadily garnering a following. Twilight Time recently released a limited Blu-ray which sold through its 3000 units in a mere few weeks.
The film stars Frankenheimer’s oft collaborator and former circus acrobat and singing waiter, Burt Lancaster. Sadly, we aren’t treated to any singing or waiting, unless you count a scene in which he helps himself to the hotel kitchen pantry, but his acrobatic talents get a workout in a performance oozing with physicality. Not only does he run, jump, fall, dive, climb, shimmy, and tumble his way though the film, but he and his costars are really doing the on-screen mechanical work of running actual trains, pulling real switches, and casting what appears to be a real, working train part from start to finish.
Realism and authenticity are The Train’s ticket, but it doesn’t stop at that junction. This is a film which not only crashes real trains and blows up an actual train station for our amusement, but asks us to evaluate the very meaning and value of art.
Did you get a chance to watch along with us this week? Want to recommend a great (or not so great) film for the whole gang to cover? Comment below or post on our Facebook or hit us up on Twitter!
Next Week’s Pick:
Next week’s pick is Death Race 2000, currently available on Netflix Instant! I’m super-thrilled about this pick, one of my all-time favorites that I can’t wait for you all to experience. While I’ve long considered foisting this maniacal exploitation disasterpiece on the team, it was actually the recommendation of frequent guest Jordan Gass-Poore’ which cemented its place in our lineup. Come for the vehicular mayhem and hilarious carnage; stay for the satirical social commentary!
Would you like to be a featured guest in next week’s Two Cents column? Simply watch and send your 140 word review to twocents(at)cinapse.co!
The Team
Brendan:
I chose The Train because it is emblematic of much of what I love about the medium of film. For starters, there’s the sheer craft of the film, which is casually staggering with its 100% authentic stunt and action sequences, with real actors and stunt men rushing about moving (and often crashing) trains. But more, it gets at the heart of what I love about fiction in general, which is the ability to tackle massive emotional and philosophical struggles through dramatic narrative and character. The film discusses topics such as nationalism, the value of art, the cost of war, and it manages to get at these ideas through a riveting suspense structure centered around multiple fascinating, rich characters. The Train goes all the way with these issues, demanding the audience decide for themselves just what it all meant. (@TheTrueBrendanF)
Ryan:
When The Monuments Men slouched into theaters back in February, I was sad to hear it was too dull for my 10 bucks. “What a great idea for a movie!” my young brain thought, tragically ignorant of classic-era war films. Then, The Train came to the rescue. I was expecting an entertaining epic, but not one so spectacularly achieved. Frankenheimer’s images would hypnotize you, if you could only keep from being so caught up in his drama’s action. I really can’t say enough about his shooting, but lying under the widest wide angles you have ever seen, is some truly clever attention to sound. The eponymous train breathes when at rest. During one scene, its wheezing seems to take the rhythm of the slowest heartbeat. At another, it’s the steady percussion signaling the doom of an execution. See this masterpiece. (@RyanUCM)
Austin:
I covered The Train’s Blu-ray release in July; you can read that here. Rather than repeat the thematic stuff I’ve already said there (which you should totally go read), I want to point out that The Train is essentially 1964’s equivalent of Raiders Of The Lost Ark: this is a story about Nazis packing a train full of priceless stolen artifacts that belong in a museum, and sending it back to Germany while a rugged hero and his companions doggedly try to stop them. It’s action-packed, full of amazing stunt work and destruction, including crashing and blowing up real trains and endlessly abusing the main character. Burt Lancaster’s Labiche may not be as iconic as Indiana Jones, but he’s just as relentless. (@VforVashaw)
Liam:
This is one of those classic films which I had not only missed, but had never even heard of. I am so glad Brendan recommended this slice of Burt Lancaster masculinity, because it was a true pleasure to watch. For a war film there is not much war, but there is still action and tension to spread around as our heroes attempt to save a train full of art. This is not a heroic tale though, rather the film focuses on the grim choices humans make in war and in life. There is no hand-holding here. We see instead men and women who have been pushed to the brink making daring and difficult decisions. There is heroism, but it is surprisingly lacking in sentiment. (@liamrulz)
Did you all get a chance to watch along with us? Share your thoughts with us here in the comments or on Twitter or Facebook!