Review of The Train (1964) by Edwin P — 16 May 2011

John Frankenheimer's "The Train" (1965).

"The Train" from director John Frankenheimer ("The Manchurian Candidate", "Ronin" and "Reindeer Games") has garnered a "classic" status in many corners. There are those who claim that this is one of the finest war movies ever made.

The film is set in 1944 and tells the story of how the French Resistance tried to stop a train on its way to Germany full of precious art taken from a French museum by a German colonel.

Paul Scofield plays the German colonel obsessed in getting the art across France and into Germany before the Resistance can stop him, headed by Burt Lancaster. Both actors are very good in this film. Lancaster even performed his own stunts that left him with an injured leg - a situation that ended up being written into the film. The movie is beautifully shot in black and white and is inspired by an actual event.

"The Train" is more than an action thriller. It also asks the question - what things are worth preserving and worth fighting for. One of the film's strengths is how it is able to capture realism in staging its action sequences with its rich set pieces. The bombing raids and train crashes are amazing to look at as real equipment are used and destroyed. Frankenheimer is able to create tension throughout the film with his camera work.

One final note: It is interesting to see how this film, without the use of subtitles, was able to handle and distinguish the German characters from the French. A critical scene at a train station stop involving the French posing as German soldiers came off rather interesting.