Rhapsodies

`This week I watched films about subways. Specifically, ones that were sort of urban fantasies and sort of comedies… but not quite. 

The first film on my list, Luc Besson’s Subway. Christopher Lambert plays Fred a man who has just stolen some important documents from a gangster. Running away from the gangster’s goon squad, Fred finds himself in the Paris Metro, where he discovers a hidden underground culture of thieves, eccentrics, and musicians that he quickly finds himself part of.

I’m not sure what to make of this film. It was certainly fun and I enjoyed it. Otherwise, it’s completely uncategorizable beyond being a comedy. It seems more interested in introducing us to a seemingly endless group of eccentrics living and/or working in the subway. (My favorite is Jean Reno as the Drummer) In fact, Besson seems to drop any pretense of a plot by the very end of the movie.

The next film, in the lineup, Control by Nimród Antal . Tells the story of a Bulcsú (Sándor Csányi) a man who has been living in the Budapest Metro, not going up to the surface since he got a job as a ticket checker. It’s his job, along with his mob of eccentrics to make sure everyone in the subway have their ticket. This is an utterly thankless job, and his people get no respect with people not willing to cooperate with them almost out of the principle of the thing. This is not made easier when they have to deal with people who don’t have tickets. To make matter worse there’s someone who’s pushing people in front of trains. 

I liked this film. It took its time showing us an interesting underground world perhaps a little slow but that didn’t matter because there was plenty of things and people to watch (most notably Zsófi (Eszter Balla) the lovely daughter of one of the train drivers who is always dressed as a Teddy Bear.

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