Audience Member
I have watched this movie over 10 times, enjoyed every part of this movie. I even can smell the air from this movie. WONDERFUL!!
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
02/21/23
Full Review
Audience Member
although made 4 TV doesn't feel like TV more like say 'murder on the orient express'
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
01/21/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Stephen Poliakoff once said jokingly of this film... "There is no sex or violence, what was I thinking?" But of course therein lies the magic. Poliakoff presents a very grey, glum insecure Europe (The Thatcher era had just begun) with, as the young American female character described it "An atmosphere so ugly". And yet the film is beautiful, touching, poignant, intriguing and dramatic. Brilliant performances from all involved and subtle, intelligent direction which evokes early Wim Wenders, a touch of Hitchcock and plays out like a Paul Theroux novel. One of my favourite films of all time.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
01/17/23
Full Review
Audience Member
In a rare failing, IMDB makes it very difficult to find this movie. Harder, in fact, than Rotten Tomatoes does. You see, what the box cover does not tell us is that this is, in fact, an episode of a show called [i]BBC2 Playhouse[/i], and IMDB doesn't automatically pull up episode titles when it searches.
This is the story of a stuffy Englishman, a horrible old Viennese woman, and a wild American. The Englishman thinks he can hit it off with the American woman, but the old Viennese woman takes over everything, promptly making the overnight journey one of the most horrible nights the young Englishman has ever spent. I would have killed the woman, but I have self-control issues.
The train is also filled with Europunks listening to Blondie. These twerps make the journey that much more difficult, and what with one thing and another, Peter (the Englishman) never does really get to connect with Lorraine the American. It's all about Frau Messner.
I mean, this woman actually makes him repeat her last name to ensure that he can say it. Messner! I can think of a lot of German names that are actually kind of difficult for a native English-speaker, but Messner most assuredly isn't one of them.
I am manipulative, and I've admitted such. Not intentionally, but I don't think Frau Messner is doing it on purpose, either. She just assumes that the world will order itself to her requirements, and if that means that some nice young man will have to give up the seat he's requested and paid for, that's his problem, not hers. I would never be so blithe about it as she.
Frau Messner is from a different era. She should have had Peter's dream, the private railway car. She should have a personal maid following her around. She should certainly get out of everyone else's hair; she's not paying the world to obey her whims.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
02/12/23
Full Review
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