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Fun Stuff => ENJOY => Topic started by: Barmymoo on 06 Jul 2010, 10:24

Title: The Girl on the Train
Post by: Barmymoo on 06 Jul 2010, 10:24
Has anyone seen this? I went to see it last night, French with subtitles.

I guess there are two things I'd like to discuss: firstly the film itself and what possessed the protagonist to act as she did, and secondly French cinema in general. I can't put my finger on what exactly it is that makes it different to British and American cinema, but I am beginning to think it's that the French are not afraid of silence or of space, and that they prefer to hint rather than spell out every detail.

Any thoughts?
Title: Re: The Girl on the Train
Post by: HiFranc on 08 Jul 2010, 08:39
I can't comment on that film but, from the other French films I've seen, they strike me as:

Title: Re: The Girl on the Train
Post by: october1983 on 08 Jul 2010, 08:42
Quote from: Barmymoo on 06 Jul 2010, 10:24
they prefer to hint rather than spell out every detail. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hidden_(film))
Title: Re: The Girl on the Train
Post by: Inlander on 08 Jul 2010, 09:00
I haven't seen the film in question; however I grew up on the marvellous French films of the mid-90s. For a few years there there was a whole run of stunning, beautifully humanist films heavily influenced by British "kitchen sink" films such as those of Ken Loach, but interpreted in a particularly French way. Films such as It All Starts Today, the Dream Life of Angels, A La Place du Couer (based on the novel If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin) an Western. Recently there seems to have been a welcome return in France to this strain of film-making, with such terrific films as I've Loved You So Long, the Class, Hunting and Gathering, and the Secret of the Grain.

Sorry, I don't actually have much useful to contribute by way of discussion, but these films mean so much to me.
Title: Re: The Girl on the Train
Post by: Scandanavian War Machine on 08 Jul 2010, 10:38
the only French movie I can think of off the top of my head is Amelie, and that's one of my all time favorite movies so....I dunno.

also, I saw this movie on TCM the other day called Bonjour Tristesse or something like that and it was pretty sweet. It's actually an American movie (c 1958) but I think it was made by French people; it takes place in France and it definitely has that relaxed, French vibe throughout.

It's basically a silly soap opera in movie format, but visually it's very pretty and it's got some decent unintentional comedy here and there.
Title: Re: The Girl on the Train
Post by: celticgeek on 08 Jul 2010, 11:26
Bonjour Tristesse (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051429/), based on the novel by Francoise Sagan.  It was a delightful movie.
Title: Re: The Girl on the Train
Post by: Scandanavian War Machine on 08 Jul 2010, 11:32
Yup, that's the one!

gosh that Jean Seberg is one pretty lady
Title: Re: The Girl on the Train
Post by: TheFuriousWombat on 08 Jul 2010, 21:44
Quote from: october1983 on 08 Jul 2010, 08:42
Quote from: Barmymoo on 06 Jul 2010, 10:24
they prefer to hint rather than spell out every detail. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hidden_(film))

This may have been in French but it was made by an Austrian so it's not an example of French film making.
Title: Re: The Girl on the Train
Post by: october1983 on 09 Jul 2010, 00:59
True, although I'd argue he borrowed a little more from French film-making than simply the language the script's in.