SUBWAYStories: Tales from the Underground

I do regret a little that I bought it without seeing it first. Some people might really like the style of those short stories, others might not. People who tend to like reading short stories would definitely enjoy most of them.

If you are an (amateur) filmmaker yourself or have worked on low budget productions, I guess you would really appreciate it. Some of those stories are constructed very clever, it is amazing how they turned everyday situations into something special in so little time.

If you have happened to see the September 11 short stories you might know why I expected a little "more".

The New York Subway is not just a transit network: it's also a place where all sides of that city's racial divide come together, albeit not necessarily in harmony. Even I have a collection of several Subway stories, and I was only in New York for 4 days. So the idea of making a film based on the true experiences of Subway users might not appear bad. But a collection of separate short films (each by a different director) always runs the risk of going nowhere, of offering underdeveloped plots and scenes that are meaningless without context: most of these stories end undramatically when someone simply gets off the train, and feel no more exciting or complete than the tales that I sometimes bore my friends with. Unsurprisingly, perhaps, my favourite segment is 'The 5:24', which develops a proper narrative despite fitting the overall pattern of chance encounters on brief journeys. Overall, however, 'SUBWAY stories' mainly reflects its subject matter: diverse, functional, but not exactly a place you'd choose to be without a very good reason.

Like the few other viewers of "Subway Stories: Tales from the Underground" who bothered to comment on this wonderful HBO "indie" film, I came upon it by chance (well, channel-surfing to tell the truth) and immediately became enthralled. A series of shorts held together by the NYC subway setting (obviously), by a wonderful framing device that brings the work to a highly satisfying and affirmative conclusion, and by a shared sense of found life, the effect of the whole is even greater than the individual parts although some of those were unforgettable.

Each of the stories were, like life, completely unpredictable and most were left open-ended: Was the stock-tipster (Jerry Stiller) a con-man or an unacknowledged financial genius? Was the beggar (Dennis Leary) a bitter Vietnam Vet or the cynical system-beater he was accused of being by the Lady in the Red Shoes (Christine Lahti)? Would the pregnant woman (Anne Heche) jump into the oncoming subway and would the calloused New Yorker with the headphones (Gregory Hines)notice, care, try to stop her? I could never guess any of the resolutions or stop wondering about their significance.

The structure of "Subway Stories" is somewhat analogous to the loosely connected short stories in Joyce's collection, "Dubliners." Each segment is a little slice of life that builds not to a rousing climax, but to an understated epiphany in which either we, a character, or both share a moment of truthful revelation. Although not all the stories are equally developed or intriguing, the whole production is characterized by first rate ensemble acting and direction. There's some great music too.

I really loved these weird stories about the New York City subway, especially the one with the boy and the older woman, and the one with Dennis Leary. That's what I want to say about it. It's underground, it's a different world...go and rent it

HBO held a contest asking people to submit stories about stuff that happened on the New York subway system. This film is an anthology of the winning stories, each one with a different director.

On the whole, it's fairly mediocre. The majority of the stories aren't that remarkable. They mostly have a "hey, imagine that" kind of ring to them, but the sum of them all manages to be less than the parts.

Bob Balaban gets the best story ("The 5:24"), which also manages to be the longest, with Jerry Stiller either being Steve Zahn's greatest opportunity or a complete con. Julie Dash has the most refreshingly unusual one.

I watched this because of Jonathan Demme's segment, and it's a serious disappointment. It's a very one-note little joke, that probably plays better if you are very amused by Bill Irwin. I'm not.