In the 1951 Hitchcock classic “Strangers on a Train”, two men with opposite temperaments form a dangerous alliance that shatters their life forever. Hitchcock’s identity-switching theme from this movie is taken by French auteur Patrice Leconte and turns on its head to give us a wonderful character study about two incompatible individuals, who forge strong (and unlikely) bond of friendship. Leconte’s “Man on the Train” (2002) possesses a plot that is used in many average Hollywood entries. It belongs to ‘buddy picture’ genre, except that the relationship is very subtle and less artificial. Leconte, the veteran French film-maker, who made intriguing movies like “Hairdresser’s Husband”, “Ridicule”, “The Girl on the Bridge”, and "Monsieur Hire”, imbues enough sardonic wit into the proceedings, primarily to plunder through the cantankerous cliches the movie could have had.
The movie starts with a man on a train, who gets off in a
dull, less populous French town. The man named Milan (Johnny Hallyday) arrives
to the town in November, when the hotels are closed due to lack of tourists.
Although Milan is a Frenchman, he looks like an American Cowboy, who has come
straight from the old Wild West. He wears a forlorn expression in his eyes and
a fringed leather jacket. Milan’s profession is the one, the old cowboys loved
to do. He robs banks. In fact he decided to visit this town to meet old
acquaintances and to rob the insecure, local bank.
The ‘Clint Eastwood’ like drifter bumps into Mr. Manesquier
(Jean Rochefort) in the local under stocked drug store. The chatty and friendly
fellow Manesquier takes Milan to his rundown Victorian estate for a glass of
water. Manesquier is a retired poetry teacher, who has lived alone in the huge
mansion since his death of mother, 15 years before. Milan finds that the town’s
only hotel is closed and so quarters in the huge home, and Manesquier is only too
happy because he finally has a companion to talk. Milan is going to stay in the
town till Saturday – the date fixed for bank robbery. In the same day,
Manesquier will go to hospital for a triple bypass surgery.
A genuine friendship gradually unfolds – they get drunk,
tell stories, recite poems, and sit on the terrace gazing at the stars --
between two old individuals, even though at one point Manesquier guesses what
is Milan’s profession. Both of the old guys, who have reached the end of line
in life, discover in each other an aspect of life, which they wish they might
have known. The ex-teacher, who has lived a predictable life, yearns for
adventure and excitement, whereas the drifter desires the comfort and stability
of a home.
Claude Klotz’s clever script sports through cliches and
elegantly creates two contradictory archetypes, who might have had no tolerance
for each other, had they met few decades earlier. The dialogues aren’t stodgy,
and the two primary characters don’t judge each other. The ending might seem a
little corny and overdone, but I liked the note of transcendence that happens
within the imagination of two characters. May be Leconte and writer Klotz
believe in the idea that a man’s destiny is fixed, no matter what. The movie
features a delicious moment, where the retired teacher, slips into the jacket
of his friend, and poses in the mirror, pretending to be a western hero.
Similarly, the bank robber borrows slippers from the teacher (it’s the first
time he wears the slippers) and finds a new comfort in wearing them. Such
little transitional moments makes it a unique character study.
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| Director Leconte and Johnny Hallyday |
Director Leconte uses plenty of visual cues to present the
script’s themes. He is interested in the old-school approach, where human
interest, subtle cinematography and sensitive performance take precedence over
the blindly entertaining fantasies. In one scene, the doctor who in the next
day, going to perform the bypass surgery on Manesquier and Milan’s friend who
came up with the robbery plan meet each other. They are sitting inside their
car, in the crossroads, waiting for the signal to turn green. This scene sort
of brings two men to stare at each other – the men who are about to change Mansequier
and Milan’s immediate fate. These little visual motifs are what ultimately give
us a haunting and satisfying movie experience.
The key to great character-pieces lies in the performance.
And, in this film, both the leads are excellent. Veteran actor Rochefort
perfectly brings out the portrait of a fussy, aging Gallic character.
Stone-faced Johnny Hallyday, an iconic French pop singer in the 60’s, with his
haggard looks, truly commands all the scenes he is in, with the attributes of
an old western hero. The significant part in their performances is that they
don’t eclipse each others acting style. They play their parts with honest
conviction and easily make us to feel an intangible line that has brought these
two polar characters together.
“Man on the Train” (85 minutes) perfectly taps into the
emotional current of the ‘mismatched buddy’ genre by avoiding the regular
unsavory, ridiculous tropes. It subtly brings out the yearning in the lives of
two men past their prime.
Trailer
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