Night Train (1998)

Very well executed

The Age of Commercialism

best movie i've ever seen.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

A heart-warming little romance, with spot-on casting and great acting to paper over the cracks in the story line. Hurt plays the 'man of mystery' to perfection: "up to something strange in the attic".A well observed Dublin also plays a part, as the setting for all or most of the location shots.One quibble: has anyone ever built an extensive model railway in a rented room? That kind of hobby goes with a fixed abode! But no more implausible than John Hurt playing a romantic lead....But quibbles aside, Hurt & Blethyn are superb, as usual, and deliver a delightful and diverting entertainment. Simply enjoy!

Very low-key tale with a wonderful performance by John Hurt in particular. Also a movie worth watching for model train-buffs as Hurt's character has one of the most beautiful train sets ever seen on film!Shot on location in Leeds NIGHT TRAIN also confirmed something I've suspected for quite some time: all British cities really DO look the same!

At the end of the nineteenth century, whenever a filmmaker wanted to convey a sense of urgency and romance, he took his camera, placed it on a railway platform and waited for the sound of a steam whistle. The 1898 movie shorts, ‘Arrival Of Tokyo Train' and ‘Train Hour in Durango, Mexico' do not have modern equivalents. The fact is we prefer not to have drama in our airports. We don't want smoke billowing from our 747's, and we would feel decidedly uncomfortable if every flight were presaged by a man in a navy uniform looking to his pocket watch before announcing, "all aboard now, ladies and gentlemen".John Lynch, in his engaging feature ‘Night Train', finds passion in his performers rather than in the iron behemoth of the title. The urgency and romance are delivered by John Hurt and Brenda Blethyn, both powerful actors who understand that the full force of love can be projected more with the unsaid and ineffable than with the spoken word.The romance begins when Michael Poole (Hurt) introduces Alice Mooney (Blethyn) to his secret obsession, the elaborate train set which he has been constructing in his room. Poole, recently released from jail for embezzlement, is now being pursued by the gangster (Lorcan Cranitch) he swindled. So, this sheltered world of miniature tracks and sidings must soon be exchanged for the real thing as our protagonists set off on the Orient Express for Venice.‘Night Train' is always much more than a chase movie because it explores an area not often charted in recent films. Love is not the sole property of supple young boys and girls whose close-ups invariably involve open pores and beads of perspiration. Sometimes love is simply about forgotten desires and about hope and, to quote the writer John Rechy, sometimes hope is an end in itself.Night train is a film that reminds us of our frailties.

I went to see this 1999 Palm Springs International Film Festival offering the night of it's U.S. Premiere, January 16th. at the Annenberg Theatre in Palm Springs. I must confess, I went mainly to see Brenda Blethyn. I was not disappointed, as this proved to be yet another in a series of wonderful performances by this brilliant actress.Like a school child, I found myself turning often during the screening to look in the direction of where Ms. Blethyn was sitting (three seats over), just to see if she was as enthralled with her own on-screen presence as I was. Sadly, I witnessed no such self-indulgent behavior on her part, and I never really expected to. What I did see was a handsome woman, almost timid in appearance, sitting and enjoying a movie with the rest of us; all so contrary, at least in my mind, to her on-screen persona.A chain of events draws Blethyn and Hurt together into a love affair which is deepened by each in a mutual need to escape the past. The fragile story line takes it's toll here, resulting in a rather lacklustre presentation. This is not to say that the film isn't in itself an enjoyable little journey. It does have its moments where genuine acting abilty and some beautiful scenery carry what otherwise might be a heavy load.Mr. Hurt's usual vitality appears to be on the decline. It is also difficult to view him as a mere love interest after the strength of character in so many of his other varied roles of the past...