Review of Boxcar Bertha (1972) by Alex F — 07 Feb 2012

The only thing New York about Martin Scorseseâ(TM)s second feature, Boxcar Bertha is the Yankee gambler, Rake Brown. Set in the south during the Great Depression, Bertha and her three newly acquired friends, Rake, Bill (a union worker), and Von travel the country jumping on freight trains robbing the wealthy blind. Like a great number of Scorsese films, they empathize anti-hero characters who rely on violence to solve their problems. Boxcar Bertha is no different.

The last shoot out sequence in the story foreshadows Travis Bickleâ(TM)s bloody massacre scene in Taxi Driver. The final sequence opens with a low-angle shot from above of the sheriff, hammering stakes through Billâ(TM)s wrist, tacking him on the train car. The next shot is a familiar religious imagery that runs through nearly all of Martin Scorseseâ(TM)s films. It is of Bill tacked on the train, hanging by his wrist like Jesus Christ on the cross.

Like the build up of that mass murder sequence in Taxi Driver, the violence happens suddenly and unexpectedly.

Surrounded by seven to eight law enforcers, they snicker and gaze at Bill, as the train takes off with his last breath; sadistically enjoying the sight of his pain.

Then.

A shotgun nozzle enters the frame from the right side. Von, mercilessly, picks and chooses his victims at will. The law men are slow to realize what is happening. But when they do, it is too late. Their bodies have already been gaped with two, three shots of lead.

When you think about Martin Scorsese, Boxcar Bertha is not the first movie that comes to mind. Instead they are Mean Streets (1973), Taxi Driver (1976), Raging Bull (1980), or Goodfellas (1990). But as you watch this movie, aside from the frantic pacing and New York setting - the quick shots, anti-hero characters, exaggerated violences, religious themes are all there in Martin Scorseseâ(TM)s second feature, Boxcar Bertha.