Color of a Brisk and Leaping Day

Released Mar 23, 1996

1h 25m

Drama

List

20%

5 Reviews

Tomatometer

40%

50+ Ratings

Audience Score

Second-generation Chinese-American John Lee (Peter Alexander) feels a strong connection to the legacy of his Chinese immigrant grandfather, who built train tracks for the First Transcontinental Railroad. When John realizes the rail line from Merced to Yosimite Valley is to be scrapped, he convinces his father to back him in a risky scheme to keep it operational. John pays switchman Skeeter (Michael Stipe) and conductor Robinson (Henry Gibson) to help, but the past may prove beyond his reach.

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Audience Member

Eloquent but dull chronice of one man's obsession.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/25/23

Full Review

walter m

As anybody who has read this film blog over the years can tell you, I am not at all fond of nostalgia. The lone exception to that rule involves trains which is where "Color of a Brisk and Leaping Day" comes in. That, the crisp black and white cinematography and a surprisingly fine turn from Henry Gibson are sadly the only elements that merit the film the barest of recommendations. In the waning days of World War II, John Lee(Peter Alexander), a college engineering dropout who repairs trolleys in Los Angeles, is inspired by tales of his late grandfather, who he never met, working on building the transcontinental railroad to reinvigorate the moribund Yosemite Valley Railroad. So while there is some interesting history on display, it is also a little inaccurate in being about a decade too early in depicting the fall of the railroad and the rise of the automobile and freeway, not to mention the airplane.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I really wanted to(and expected to) like this movie a lot more than I did. Yeah, some very cool cinematography, but the acting really didn't hit the right notes I don't think. At points it was really good, but the characters were just uneven, some scenes were emotionally spot-on, and the others were totally bizarre. Ant there was all this weird sexual tension going on that was totally out of place or not intended or something that had nothing at all to do with the story, pretty distracting, unless it was supposed to be part of the film which I don't think it was at all. Like weren't they supposed to be brother and sister? Weird. Miachael Stipe was actually really good though, so big props there. The narration, gah! A very worthy effort, but just too clumsy I thought.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/18/23

Full Review

Audience Member

great train movie I love trains

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/25/23

Full Review

Audience Member

[url="http://www.newvideo.com/images/boxart/NVG9578-03.jpg"][img]http://www.newvideo.com/images/boxart/NVG9578-02.jpg[/img][/url] Yes, the cinematography was great (Winner at Sundance), but that is all. I did like the black and white presentation. But the rest was BORING!

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/03/23

Full Review

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Christopher Munch

Director

Peter Alexander

John Lee

Jeri Arredondo

Nancy

Henry Gibson

Robinson

Michael Stipe

Skeeter

Alexandra Bokyun Chun

Angela

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Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Eloquent but dull chronice of one man's obsession

Rated: C+

May 3, 2011

Full Review

Film Threat

Rated: 2.5/5

Dec 6, 2005

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Film Threat

Rated: 2.5/5

Dec 8, 2002

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Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

It was a pleasant and unique film, as pleasant as going through a photo album of someone who really loves what he's showing you and you don't know what's coming next.

Rated: B

Jan 7, 2002

Full Review

Christopher Null

Filmcritic.com

Rated: 1.5/5

Nov 13, 2001

Full Review

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Synopsis

Second-generation Chinese-American John Lee (Peter Alexander) feels a strong connection to the legacy of his Chinese immigrant grandfather, who built train tracks for the First Transcontinental Railroad. When John realizes the rail line from Merced to Yosimite Valley is to be scrapped, he convinces his father to back him in a risky scheme to keep it operational. John pays switchman Skeeter (Michael Stipe) and conductor Robinson (Henry Gibson) to help, but the past may prove beyond his reach.

Director: Christopher Munch
Producer: Donald Rosenfeld
Screenwriter: Christopher Munch
Distributor: New Video Group, Artistic License
Production Co: Blurco, Stark Productions, Antarctic Pictures
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 23, 1996, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 19, 2017
Runtime: 1h 25m
Sound Mix: Mono
Aspect Ratio: 35mm

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