Cast: Lionel Abelanski, Rufus, Clément Harari, Marie-José Nat, Agathe De la Fontaine, Bruno Abraham-Kremer, Michel Muller
Director: Radu Mihaileanu
Producers: Marc Bashet, Ludi Boeken, Frédérique Dumas-Zajdela, Eric Dussart, Cédomir Kolar
Screenplay: Radu Mihaileanu
Cinematography: Yorgos Arvanitis, Laurent Dailland
Music: Goran Bregovic
U.S. Distributor: Paramount Classics
In French with subtitles
Radu Mihaileanu's Train of Life will be the third "feel good" Holocaust movie to reach U.S. theater screens. However, of the recent trio, which also includes Life is Beautiful and Jakob the Liar, Train of Life was actually the first to go into production. (In fact, Roberto Benigni was originally offered the lead in this movie; after turning it down, he began work on his Oscar-winning feature.) So, while there are definite similarities, Train of Life cannot legitimately be accused of stealing from the others.
With its usage of the Holocaust as a backdrop for a comedy fantasy that resembles Hogan's Heroes crossed with Fiddler on the Roof, Train of Life will be subjected to the same sort of criticism that was leveled at both Life is Beautiful and (to a lesser degree) Jakob the Liar - it trivializes a horrific period in recent history. Although this is arguably a valid point-of-view, I don't share it. Mihaileanu goes to great pains to emphasize the tragedy of the circumstances, although he does so in a somewhat belated and unconventional manner. In fact, it is the final, brief scene that radically shifts our perspective about all that has preceded it.
An important question for viewers of Train of Life is whether a tremendous ending can redeem an otherwise mediocre motion picture. For most of its running length, this movie is a poorly paced, meandering comedy fantasy with irregularly developed characters and sporadically amusing humor. The Nazis are presented as Hogan's Heroes type buffoons, and the Jews could have been lifted intact out of Fiddler on the Roof. There are also ineffectively realized subplots featuring Marxist recruits and unrequited love. When stirred together in the mixing pot, these qualities do not make for an engaging motion picture. However, in light of Mihaileanu's ending, everything must be re-evaluated, and, with the facts in place, things look considerably different. For that reason, Train of Life is one of the few films that works better on subsequent viewings than on the initial one.
Train of Life opens in a Jewish shtetl during the summer of 1941. When Schlomo (Lionel Abelanski), the village fool, learns of the approach of the Germans, he suggests an audacious plan to the local Rabbi (Clément Harari) - the Jews should combine their resources, buy a train, then fake their own deportation. Instead of going to a concentration camp, however, they will head for Russia, then on to Palestine. Roughly 30 of them will dress up as German soldiers, with one of the most devout men, Mordechai (Rufus), posing as a commander. After much debate, Schlomo's plan is adopted, and the townspeople get to work making preparations (buying the train cars, finding an engineer, etc.). By the time they are ready to leave, factions have begun to develop within the previously united community. A group of Marxists have rejected religion, the "Germans" have begun to adopt a stance of authority, and the traditionalists are left to look on in chagrin.
One of the more interesting themes addressed by Train of Life relates to the similarities of seemingly different communities. At one point during their exodus, the Jews encounter a band of gypsies, who, like them, are fleeing from potential persecution. Recognizing their common goal, they join forces, but this results in further cracks in an already unstable social foundation. Diversity has replaced the previous norm of homogeneity.
The comedy is "French" in nature - which is to say that it tends towards silliness and slapstick. The French may be subtle about many things, but their style of humor is not one of them. I found much of Train of Life's supposed levity to be forced and unappealing. It isn't that I have a fundamental problem with Holocaust-based wit and satire, but that I didn't find this material to be especially funny.
Ultimately, however, the ending is what will determine how each individual reacts to Train of Life. Someone who walks out midway through the film will have a different perspective than those who stay to the start of the closing credits, since much of what is provocative and interesting about the movie is introduced during the brief epilogue. While this is not the ideal way to structure a motion picture, and it forces viewers to endure 100 minutes of sometimes uninspired cinema beforehand, there's no doubt that Train of Life's resolution leaves a forceful impression.
© 1999 James Berardinelli