Train Station

Just a fantastic film. Deserves to be seen again and again. Its a start of a new genre in cinema. Multiple directors from different parts of the world telling a single story in a unique way. A must watch for film lovers. Train Station is a surreal and unique journey of a single character who is never called by a name in the film, he is dressed in brown and that is how you know it's the same character changing as the demography of the story changes. The film is about the journey this character takes that starts from the 'train station'. This also has some very beautiful seamless transition in editing. Even though the main character changes its sex, age, country, the story still feels a single unit because of its editing.

This is a unique and intriguing film. The fact that this film was a collaboration of filmmakers from around the world is an impressive accomplishment. Although every director has their own unique style, the various directors did a great job of connecting each story so that the film is cohesive. This movie kept my interest from beginning to end - A must watch!

Bringing together so many film makers from around the world and creating a feature film which is highly entertaining, thought - provoking, clever, imaginative and unique. It deserves to be watched and watched again. Truly a milestone in cinema history. The basic premise of one character changing bodies, languages, countries, age and sex yet being in the same story and selection of stories is a very clever device. Spanish director Luis Buñuel of course did this in Obscure Object of Desire, but only with 2 actors - Train Station takes this a whole lot further and it takes a few minutes to grasp what is happening, but once involved in the film the viewer is transported into this world and actually looks forward to the next change. This film is a rich tapestry of genre and story, like I said, an amazing achievement.

This is a very original and unique piece of art and entertainment. A very challenging and interesting idea, where the protagonist is played by different actors in different countries. It could easily dive into a wave of confusion to the audience but it's completely understandable, and it has a powerful and seductive storytelling. Although it's directed and produced in very different places around the world, by different teams, it still has a coherence that any good film must have, and also with the bonus of this multicultural diversity throughout the film. This is the second time Collabfeature makes a film in these terms. But the first the plot was led by a backpack that would o from hand to hand "by chance", and would take us to micro worlds, or situations, of characters that not always were intertwined. So although very interesting and funny, it was still, a backpack. Here having a protagonist, very characterized, 3 dimensional with all his different aspects of personality, we are more easily driven to the world of the character and the needs of the character. And like in any good classic storytelling, although he jumps into an adventure with many obstacles, we never forget the premise "there is a train he needs to catch, will he catch it?" Probably the beginning of a new era of filmmaking.

What the film 'Train Station' implies is that the simplest decisions are often the ones that send our lives into the most unexpected directions. We try to prepare ourselves for every situational outcome, but turn left rather than right and an entirely new butterfly effect occurs. This indie film selection is a remarkable exercise in the roulette of randomality and choice. 'Train Station', produced and directed by Yosef Khouwes, is a collaborative effort between forty, yes forty filmmakers and forty-three actors, playing the same character across twenty-five different countries. Every time the main character is faced with a decision the scene transforms into a new location, along with new actors continuing the previous actors' roles. At each point in time when the protagonist chooses their path, they become an entirely new person existing in an entirely new location. As a philosophical implication: Your universe changes along with your choices and you essentially become reinvented through your own actions.

WHAT IF?

The film begins unassumingly enough in a Nairobi train station. The man in brown, as all the players in his persona will be wearing, has just been told that his train has been delayed for an undetermined length of time. He can either wait or return to his home. He makes his choice and immediately the scene cuts to a train station in another city with our unnamed traveler, played by a new actor, abruptly demanding a refund on his ticket. As he leaves the station a series of random events occur, demanding choices at every turn. The sequence of events and continuity moves well from city to city and actor to actor. Each choice leading to a new situation, leading to new choices, ultimately resolving themselves as the means to an end. But the story is incomplete, because…what if? What if our character makes a different choice at any particular point in the sequence of events? The directors play through several series of events multiple times, each beginning at square one. As our character makes different choices leading to different outcomes, as in life; each series of events draws cleverly to its own end, but always leaving the protagonist stranded at another fork in the road. One observation is in how the juxtaposition of culture and tradition from country to country affects the decisions made by each personification of the main character. It's easy to lose track if you're not paying attention. The film takes the viewer through many examples of human nature and behavior employing a myriad of uniquely stylized scenes. The tone of the movie is set only after the unnamed traveler decides to wait for his train. There he is met on the platform by an "old man who knows"; suggesting a hint of Krishnamurti , and a philosophical conversation begins…about choice, free will and awareness. The performances were convincing except for one or two rough patches of dialogue here and there, but the pacing and structure of the entire film were smoothly scripted. As each scenario unfolds the film expands into a series of short films each with its own international backdrop. Beyond the narrative, the feature itself is a fine example of the "visual art" of filmmaking. The context is relevant, the cinematography is crisp and the locations appeared to have been well scouted for color and texture. Even though I thought one or two of the scenes were a bit contrived; maybe a little too "slapstick", other scenes were very noir-esque, laced with Lynchian nuances and sublimely surreal. As artists we understand that coordinating that level collaboration is a monumental feat in itself. But when the process yields this promising of a result, well that's the icing on the cake! Bottom line? Train Station is an ambitious experiment in art house filmmaking that actually holds up.

EJ Wickes/Cult Critic Mag/CICFF