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Rating:  - Take This Train
An interesting and compelling movie, this Patrice Chereau`s ("Intimacy") effort is a deep and subdued story about different kinds of relationships. Many individuals who are somehow connected (family ties, friendship, love) reunite on a train in order to attend a funeral of a loved(?) one. During the process, shades of the past unfold and old wounds appear again, making for some dramatic moments and tense situations. A low-key, subtle and realistic cinematic experience, "Those Who Love Me Can Take the Train" offers a solid character study with convincing acting and a stellar soundtrack (P.J. Harvey, Jeff Buckley, Portishead, Cake,...). It`s an uneven movie, though, as some scenes drag a bit, the connections between a couple of characters aren`t quite clear and the ending could be better. Still, this picture is worthwile overall and suceeds at presenting a melancholic and urban look into dysfunctional families.
Good cinema.
Rating:  - a jolt
Things went left and right and back again causing whiplash but I couldn't take my eyes off it even when I had no clue what was going on. It didn't matter because I needed to watch it through to the end. And I did.
Rating:  - Should not come up under Lesbian Title
I originally read very good reviews about this movie. It came under a "Lesbian Search" don't let the cover fool you...it is a transexual and straight woman...whose relationship is nothing but support after the death of a character not seen. I did not like it, perhaps I was biased about the lesbian thing. However, I find that it was unbearable to find people talking about a dead guy who seems to have seduced the lot of them. Lesbians, unless you want to find the meaning of "death" and ponder latent desires for a man...don't buy this film.
Rating:  - Uncomfortable, tough but ultimately extremely satisfying
THOSE WHO LOVE ME CAN TAKE THE TRAIN to the burial of an enigmatic French artist by the name of Jean Baptiste. In this frenzied examination of contemporary living creatures who all board a claustrophobic train on its way to Limoges, France, director Patrice Chereau dissects the psyches of the most disparate group of family and friends ever gathered to pay last rites. A married couple in the midst of dissolution, a gay couple who discover a shared paramour whose health status threatens their lives, a transexual current amour of the dead man, a long time male nurse of the deceased, and others whose identities remain slightly out of focus - all of these characters have personal baggage they bring to this memorial "reunion" and it is the interplay of thier interrelated attachments to the deceased that alters their lives. There are problems with the film - the subtitles are difficult to read, the soundtrack often covers the dialogue, the pace is a bit disarming - but in all it is very much like the way Chereau approaches opera (the vocal sound tract is in English, the dialogue in French with only sporadic English, the grand emotional music is from Gustav Mahler). He asks us to step back and experience the interior lives of the people around us. Perhaps this film is an acquired taste, but give it some time and investment of thought and you'll be richly rewarded.
Rating: - An exceptional movie, but a horrendous transfer!
Quite simply, this is the worst DVD transfer I've ever seen. In reference to the other reviewer's observation concerning the film's "poor lighting" all I can say is blame it on transfer, not the director. The film is every bit as good as, say, Magnolia, and is deserving of at least a 4 1/2 star rating. However, owing to the unreadable subtitles, I'd be loath to recommend this movie--even for rental--to anyone who doesn't speak French.
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