Alicia
I love this movie so much
Exoticalot
People are voting emotionally.
GrimPrecise
I'll tell you why so serious
Frances Chung
Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable
trpdean
I perfectly understand the comment of the person who wrote that they needed a script. They do need better defined characters, an interesting story, a more intriguing atmosphere, more realistic scenes with recognizable reactions to human events, and perhaps something else that will make a viewer want to keep watching. The characters in this movie are so grotesque that I kept expecting one to begin to eat another. First, the fact that people are in some kind of emotional pain does not thereby cause one to find them sympathetic - particularly when there is little attempt whatever to relieve each other's troubles. That is fine, so long as the characters are made nevertheless interesting - through their actions, their dialogue, something.These eight or so principal characters seem to cry, rage, fight, yell, grab one another, insult one another, kiss each other, scream, slap, hug, kick -- non-stop without any dramatic build-up or suspense. It's just relentless displays of extreme emotion - whether it's of someone truly sobbing after finding that the water in the bath is cold (yes,undoubtedly some metaphor, but so poorly done);whether it's because someone else saw the deceased more recently than they;whether it's because someone they fancy doesn't want to be buggered on a train;-- or just for no reason at all.This is awful stuff - a portrait of self-absorbed decadence without anything interesting to say - and to boot, it's excruciatingly slow because terribly muddled for a long time. I don't at all mind working to figure out a movie - but there must be something intriguing to motivate the work. Thus, for example in Place Vendome, we don't know what is going on but it's well worth finding out. Not here - not with these characters who serve simply to embarrass those around them. This is an ugly movie - not because the ugly side of people is realistically shown, but because characters who never become real are created -- to personify ugliness of character.I had high hopes - and am very disappointed.
robertconnor
If you like dense, complex character studies, this is one for you. Patrice Chéreau is not interested in pat solutions, 'pop-corn' plots, spoon-fed comedy or 'star' vehicles.A gaggle of friends and relations pile onto a train from Paris to Limoges, enroute to a funeral. The deceased has had an impact on each character, and as they bicker, laugh, grieve and confide in each other, a picture of the dead man is fleshed out.Chéreau has cast this work superbly, creating a hyper-realistic ensemble. He allows his cast to create an almost improvised quality, dialogue crossing over dialogue, with each performer whether major and minor bringing utter conviction and truth to their role. At no time to you feel manipulated to either love or loathe any of the characters.The conclusion is perhaps a little lacking, but that's only because I didn't really want to leave the throng.Don't expect Hollywood-style comedy, drama or action. Instead, settle down and relish the thoughtful and intelligent craft of this French genius!
User-29
*****- Unmissable ****- Very Good ***- Average **- Poor *- RubbishI enjoyed this film because i start my review of it. The beginning was very touching in which we here an interview as a voiceover this is effective. In the title of the film "Those who love me can take the train" the most important word is love. This film goes to show what real love is. The love is on two levels, one part is the love for this man who has died and the other is what happens after the death. The idea of a train being a way of expressing there love is clever. If you think about. Some of the one-liners in this film are quite good. There is also the scene in which a relative reads out a funeral speech which is then tra*nslated into french. That is very clever. There is a lot of emotional depth to this film. I feel the film however looses it slightly with repetitive dialogue in the last half an hour. I do think the transexual is a very important and effective character in plot, as she helps us to understand about how love can change towards someone when they are something different.****/*****
patronus
A drama queen's wet dream. It offers up a magnificent, almost epic gloss of the melodrama of at least 14 characters. The problem is that with a Robert Altman-sized cast crammed into 2 hours (Altman would take 3 or more), and screen time distributed more or less democratically, it's hard to get to know the characters--but some are very compelling anyway. The film is narrated and edited ridiculously, as if a novel had been tossed into a blender. Most scenes feel like they're less than a minute long yet are packed with dialogue. You might wonder if the filmmakers are trying to obscure script problems by making routine exposition an unusual chore.However, the film's melodrama is presented in a lushly dark, romantic, Gallic way. There's something heady about the experience. And the film has some extraordinary settings. The cemetery is one of the most stunning locations since Scarlet O'Hara walked through the endless Confederate dead. And the train, crowded and zipping through the French countryside, is metaphoric in an undeniably physical way. Since Americans don't support public transportation, esp. trains, this experience struck me as unique.