Night Train

This was a mystery of sorts, but more of a romance. The story-line was a little ponderous to start with and "Night Train's" plot is rather common: a man with a troubled past, just released from jail, attempts to hide from a former employer-crook from whom he stole money; he hides in a rooming house run by an elderly widow with an unhappy spinster daughter under her mother's domination; the boarder and daughter become friends; as the crooks close in on the boarder, he convinces the daughter to escape and start a new life, which she does; he then admits that he's on the run because of stolen money, which she demands he return or forget the relationship. Hurt and Blethin were both well cast as the leads and they really did make the whole film work as it picked up momentum. The scenes aboard the Orient Express in Europe were simply beautiful and breathtaking and it was a shame that there wasn't a scene or two on the British Pullman but with the initial story being set in Ireland I guess it made sense to go by boat to Europe and pick up the Orient Express there. Based on the cover photo I was expecting a fast paced thriller but this was just right. Quirky little movie, but worth the time.

Overall rating: 7 out of 10.

This film should have had wider distribution - I was lucky enough to see it at a festival two years after it was made, and I'd never heard of it before.

It's gentle, funny, tense - in fact there are some quite scary moments in it - well-acted, with shrewd observation of ordinary lives and relationships, and a believable plot.

I can't think of anyone I wouldn't recommend this to.

I went to see this 1999 Palm Springs International Film Festival offering the night of it's U.S. Premiere, January 16th. at the Annenberg Theatre in Palm Springs. I must confess, I went mainly to see Brenda Blethyn. I was not disappointed, as this proved to be yet another in a series of wonderful performances by this brilliant actress.

Like a school child, I found myself turning often during the screening to look in the direction of where Ms. Blethyn was sitting (three seats over), just to see if she was as enthralled with her own on-screen presence as I was. Sadly, I witnessed no such self-indulgent behavior on her part, and I never really expected to. What I did see was a handsome woman, almost timid in appearance, sitting and enjoying a movie with the rest of us; all so contrary, at least in my mind, to her on-screen persona.

A chain of events draws Blethyn and Hurt together into a love affair which is deepened by each in a mutual need to escape the past. The fragile story line takes it's toll here, resulting in a rather lacklustre presentation. This is not to say that the film isn't in itself an enjoyable little journey. It does have its moments where genuine acting abilty and some beautiful scenery carry what otherwise might be a heavy load.

Mr. Hurt's usual vitality appears to be on the decline. It is also difficult to view him as a mere love interest after the strength of character in so many of his other varied roles of the past...

Brenda Blethyn (52) and John Hurt (58) are the lovers in this late life romance. It is very much like a stage play and the story line is so fragile that you are required to champion the actors and disregard brief not too well done action sequences that move the story along.

It is low budget but the filming is very competent. I found it a little hard to believe that a middle class (at best) middle aged introverted woman (Blethyn) could suddenly appear decked out like Lauren Bacall in the train sequences--where did she get the expensive clothes etc...ditto for John Hurt who had been working in a slaughter house disposing of offal--although his career had actually been as a rip off shady bookkeeper-- still not the evening clothes type.

The model train stuff was hard to swallow but central to the story--what can I say all in all it works as enjoyable entertainment what more do you want? The narrow focus of the action (to the romance and elopement) helps make it low key and relaxing even though there are scenes of people being burned alive etc... ODD movie in this regard.

Tacked on items like the women's lingerie thief reveal the fundamental naive amateur nature of the writing/production. But that's what gives this B production it's appeal.

RECOMMEND

At the end of the nineteenth century, whenever a filmmaker wanted to convey a sense of urgency and romance, he took his camera, placed it on a railway platform and waited for the sound of a steam whistle. The 1898 movie shorts, ‘Arrival Of Tokyo Train' and ‘Train Hour in Durango, Mexico' do not have modern equivalents. The fact is we prefer not to have drama in our airports. We don't want smoke billowing from our 747's, and we would feel decidedly uncomfortable if every flight were presaged by a man in a navy uniform looking to his pocket watch before announcing, "all aboard now, ladies and gentlemen".

John Lynch, in his engaging feature ‘Night Train', finds passion in his performers rather than in the iron behemoth of the title. The urgency and romance are delivered by John Hurt and Brenda Blethyn, both powerful actors who understand that the full force of love can be projected more with the unsaid and ineffable than with the spoken word.

The romance begins when Michael Poole (Hurt) introduces Alice Mooney (Blethyn) to his secret obsession, the elaborate train set which he has been constructing in his room. Poole, recently released from jail for embezzlement, is now being pursued by the gangster (Lorcan Cranitch) he swindled. So, this sheltered world of miniature tracks and sidings must soon be exchanged for the real thing as our protagonists set off on the Orient Express for Venice.

‘Night Train' is always much more than a chase movie because it explores an area not often charted in recent films. Love is not the sole property of supple young boys and girls whose close-ups invariably involve open pores and beads of perspiration. Sometimes love is simply about forgotten desires and about hope and, to quote the writer John Rechy, sometimes hope is an end in itself.

Night train is a film that reminds us of our frailties.