One has to just think of a great film featuring a war and a train would automatically come to mind. While Czech cinema gave its immortal classic, 'Closely watched trains' directed by the legendary director Jiri Menzel to the admirers of cinema, Polish cinema also had its fair share of films depicting war where trains have played a major role. 'Ludzie Z Pociagu'/'People on a train' is one brilliant example of a war film featuring innocent people whose lives depended a lot on the running of a train. In this film, director Kazimierz Kutz depicts how an act of heroism involving the seizure of a gun is responsible in allowing the viewers to get a better idea of the microcosm of Polish society. A motley group of ordinary polish citizens is depicted which include smugglers, a widow, a pair of young lovers, a young boy who has lost two brothers in war etc. The film begins with a senior rail employee explaining the importance of trains which stop even in a remote station in Poland to his female assistant. Although it has a lot of suspense, 'People on a train' doesn't ignore to highlight its humanist concern as it shows how people of different beliefs and values can team up to defeat their common enemy. Actor Jerzy Blok who plays the role of station master Kalinski emerges as a clear winner as it is solely through his sheer genius and patience, innocent lives are saved. 'People on a train' has been shot entirely on location in Kuriany, a remote village in Bialystok province.
