Le Train - Nur ein Hauch von Glück

I saw the film especially as admirer of Romy Schneider. I was seduced , again, by her presence and the close ups serve , in beautiful way, this cause. Her Anne , defined by bad experiences, becoming part of a story of survive and one of love, proposing a manner to resist to pressures and fears, educated , in some measure, in some form, a simple man, losting, for a period, his family, is just fair.

A war film , a trip , in the womb of a train under attacks of Nazi airplanes, a splendid scene about persecution against Jews , a great portraits of characters and inspired - dramatic end.

A beautiful film about experiences, love, refuges and radical decisions . And admirable job of Romy Schneider and Jean Louis Trintignant.

Unusual but not terribly compelling WWII drama almost wholly set aboard a train (transporting French people fleeing from the oncoming Nazi invaders). The film's core is the budding romance between fellow passengers Jean-Louis Trintignant (whose pregnant wife and young daughter are staying in a different compartment and eventually get 'lost' along the way) and Romy Schneider, a German-Jew war widow.

Despite a busy narrative - Trintignant stepping down at every station to ask for the possible whereabouts of his family, Schneider being picked on by a group of loutish passengers in view of her aristocratic airs (meanwhile, an ageing prostitute is all-too-willing to render her services free of charge in such hard times!) and for whom the usually meek Trintignant stands up, a rather underdeveloped subplot involving young single mother Anne Wiazemsky (then still married to Jean-Luc Godard), etc. - the tone of the film is too glum and the treatment too conventional to generate much audience involvement; that said, the interspersing of black-and-white newsreels of similar events from the era was an inspired touch and the scene in which the train comes under aerial attack from the Nazis, leaving numerous victims, is nicely handled (even if the moment when a couple are mown down while relieving themselves in an open field comes off as unintentionally funny!). Besides, the film has other virtues in the pleasant countryside photography of Walter Wottitz (an expert in WWII-based films, among them John Frankenheimer's THE TRAIN [1964] - which was actually filmed in France!) and a lush score from Philippe Sarde.

An interesting moment in the film occurs when Trintignat scoffs at Schneider's recounting of how the Nazis intended to exterminate the Jewish population, which gives credence to the notion that the world only became aware of the full extent of the Holocaust after the war was over. When the train arrives at its destination, Trintignant is re-united with his family (including a new-born son) - but not before having passed off Schneider as his wife to the Gestapo officials! At the end, however, when she's captured as a member of the Resistance they're somehow able to link her back to him and the couple are brought together for questioning...

... one of Hollywood's favourite blends. Luckily, this is not a Hollywood movie but a french one; luckily, its bitter realism wins over the sweet moving moments in one of the best-acted cinematic love stories ever. Romy Schneider and J.-L. Trintignant give a performance you won't forget even when you have forgotten most details and plot elements of this simple, but convincing film.

And also the most known French film about the 1940 French exodus, trying to escape from the Nazi invasion. You had EN MAI FAIS CE QU'IL TE PLAIT, back in 2015, also a very good movie, with the same settings. The other strength of this movie, besides the gripping story, is that the director Granier Deferre was only 13 years old at this time and actually lived this tragic period. So, he was the best placed to provide many of accurate details, that would probably not have been shown in another feature. For instance, those women who took advantage of the train stop, in the middle of the country side, to take a pee, in a field. Then a nazi plane arrives and bombards the area. Three seconds later after the smoke has left, we see the two cadavers of the poor women. Or the scene of a man, also taking a pee, standing between wagons, during a train stop ( of course;;;) Some folks have said that you have some lengths in the film, I agree, but in this kind of feature, lengths are sometimes unavoidable. If you had filled this film with plenty of action sequences, would that had been credible? Hell no. A memorable ending that would have made, even a Waffen SS trooper weep. Believe me.

May 1940. The Germans invade France and thousands flee on trains heading for safety. A man is separated from his pregnant wife and young daughter. He meets a woman on the train and protects her. She is a German Jew -- suspected by the French -- and wanted by the Nazis.

With actual footage from WWII, this film feels more like a documentary, which of course adds to the drama. The characters -- even the minor ones -- are well drawn and evoke sympathy. Romy Schneider -- a beauty in so many other films -- displays her incredible acting prowess. And Jean-Louis Trintignant, who became well known after "Z" (1969) and "The Conformist" (1970), is incredible: low-keyed, soft-spoken and poignant. Can two people fall in love so quickly? Under such dire circumstances that keep getting worse, this strange romance seems so real.

For the most part, this is not a Holocaust film ... nor a film about Nazi atrocities. But the fear of German aggression is palpable. One character tells another -- as they see the results of the German aircraft bombing: "Close your eyes, you'll never know it happened." This is what all refugees desire -- to escape and forget. But this is a film that doesn't want you to forget the prejudice, selfishness, and other horrors of war. But it also reminds you of the gentleness and humankindness.

"It's them. I'd recognize that sound anywhere." I am reminded of the Holocaust survivor who could not sleep for years because of the sounds she heard in her dreams/nightmares.

The last seven minutes are some of the most frightening and intelligent minutes dealing with the Holocaust even put on film The scene is fraught with danger and filled with possibilities. The ethical dilemma will generate hours of thought and discussion.