Subway [DVD]

After a typically wild and funny car chase from French master Luc Besson, the protagonist heads underground into the Paris Metro, never to emerge for the duration of the picture. And, after being chased by thugs, he then heads behind-the-scenes, as it were, to the non-public areas of the vast system where he meets the denizens of a complex subterranean culture. This is the premise of Besson's wonderful early film, Subway. Mr. Besson sets the stage in this one for his action series, Taxi, complete with loveable characters, villains, fast edits, fast action, great actors working in ensemble. First among these is Christophe Lambert, fresh off his success as Tarzan so he is suitably athletic, young and achingly handsome in a blonde punk haircut. His character, Fred, has fallen for Isabelle Adjani as Elena -- and who can blame him? Her slow entrance, down a staircase in the subway in a glorious cocktail dress of gray silk, is full of portent for the fun to come. Elena had invited Fred to her house for a party, where he promptly blew the safe (because he 'can't stand safes'), stole papers, and he is now pursued by her not-so-nice husband and his henchmen. Other inhabitants of the underground world include Jean-Hugues Anglade as a thief on skates, Jean Reno as a drummer in the band Fred wants to manage, and a host of recognizeable French character actors obviously delighted to work with Besson. Mr. Lambert's French is perfect, though born American, because he was raised in Switzerland by his diplomat father. He was a French star before the Highlander film made him an American megastar. It is wonderful to see such actors in their youth, looking so beautiful, and having such a good time. This is a hallmark of a Besson film and the fun is infectious.

GREAT MOVIE. I never herad of this film until I recently read on blu-ray dot com that a new Blu-ray edition was coming soon. So I checked and located this older (but great) Blu-ray edition was available for a fair price. It arrived fast. I really like amazon dot comUK and have bought from them a great deal since around 2004! As for Subway. Check this out. Christopher Lambert in a pre-Highlander role... It's a Luc Beeson film. How can you not be intrigued. 4 out of 5 stars.

When this came out in the mid-'Eighties, it felt smart, slick, knowing and utterly of its times. It was a New Romantic paeon to a generation leaving the spiritual and material poverty of a bourgeous society of the second-half of the 1970's in which there was nothing to do or consume on a Sunday and precious little for the rest of the week. It was also quintessentially French: Peugeot 205 driven faster than its chasis ideally allowed; an exquisitely exotic and beautiful French actress wearing diamonds with back-combed hair descending the steps of a metro station in an evening dress; music literally played Underground by pop artists re-discovering their souls through pop music. France, then, still had cultural swagger and was also happy putting its own cultural problems front-of-picture. At the time, only 50% of the French young were self-identifiably happy with their social context and prospects; 25% were self-declared rebels and 25% were unemployed and, in some cases, possibly happier with that badge than not. This meant 50% of the French young didn't 'buy in' to the coming consumerist revolution. This was a generation that was still non-materialistic, still troubled by the ghosts of existentialism and looking for a haircut that expressed it. 'Iroquois'. The 'ennui' of Arquette's character... But make no mistake, this is movie with whale corset-bones of classic filmmaking, too. The cast is impeccable. The police commissioner is superbly borrowed from a salty, dusty, cynical fag-end of the '70's and is brilliant as such. Christophe Lambert, on his way from one planet to another, offers a James Bond-like figure for the stateless and abandoned. There are others who come right out Central Casting from the mid-1980's. This was a society on the cusp of falling out of love with socialism but still with visceral hatred of capitalism. It is still Revolutionary, but, for this moment, lost Underground and whimsical, wistful and supremely lyrical with it. A masterpiece.

I saw this film when it was first released at the Camden Plaza (now a video shop, sadly, but back in 1985, it showed all of the Artificial Eye and other foreign and arthouse releases) uncountable times and though I haven't seen it since, it made an indelible mark on my consiousness and there are sections which I can still quote and smile over. It is about a man, Fred played by Christopher Lambert, who loves birthdays and hates safes and who, while hiding out in the Paris Metro, meets an assortment of oddball characters and falls in love with Isabelle Adjani and who wouldn't! It is simple, funny, sweet and innocent in a sort of post punk way and is quite the best thing that Christpher Lambert has ever done IMHO. It is also a must for anyone who melts into mush at the sound of Rickie Lee Jones' dulcet tones. The setting of 'Lucky Guy' is just gorgeous. It is a perfect film for all the incurable romantics out there and anyone who wants an escape from the toils of everyday life into a fairy tale world that never existed, will never exist but wouldn't it be lovely if it did.

Luc Besson does do some really good films and quite unusual as well. This is a bit of a love story possibly highlighting the culture of the pick pocket gangs living within the tunnels of the paris metro train system. It dosnt quite work perhaps Bessons directing carreer was in its infancy. Perhaps the sctors just couldnt quite get the feel of what besson wanted to do.

I like the film and my husband, for whom I bought it, loves it. He saw the film many years ago and it has stayed with him. He's thrilled to have it on the shelf and we watch it regularly.

Film culte avec ses défauts et ses qualités, il y a une touche Besson, un univers bien particulier, une énergie, incontournable.

I didn't know what to expect when I watched this excellent Columbia TriStar - Gaumont DVD transfer of "Subway", although I knew the movie had been nominated for thirteen Cesar Awards (winning three.) Mon Dieu! - I was bowled over by the manic energy in its directing, cinematography and editing, the deadpan humor from the wonderful actors portraying numerous eccentric characters and its superb, scintillating soundtrack (how about Rickie Lee Jones singing "A Lucky Guy" during one scene?!) In fact, this genre-bending movie (with a nod to Godard) is mostly about the music (especially in one thread of its various plot lines); before the film starts, the following quotes appear on the screen: 'To be is to do' - Socrates, 'To do is to be' - Sartre, 'Do be do be do' - Sinatra. If you love that, you'll love this film!

Correcta edición de este clásico moderno del cine galo. Respeta su formato original scope, contiene audios remasterizados, subtítulos sincronizados y algún extra (trailers originales de los títulos editados de Luc Besson). Una buena oportunidad para redescubrir esta suerte de "A bout de souffle" en clave ciberpunk, un deleite para los sentidos (sobre todo por la música de Eric Serra).

面白い映画です。 根底にあるのは、権力や富裕層に対する反骨精神と自由を求める若さ。でしょうか？ でも何故か泣ける…。不思議な映画ですよね。自分で自分が何故泣くのかわかりません。 とても良い映画なのに、何故あまり話題にならなかったのか？不思議です。 イザベルアジャーニ。本当に綺麗な女優さんでした。 個人レベルの評価、好みの問題ですが。世界で一番美しいと思っていました。 クリストファーランバートもチョット人気が出たりしましたし、 監督はもう語る必要ない。脇を固めるメンバーも豪華。 この時期、この時代だから揃ったメンバーなんでしょうし、 彼らに共通する業界での当時の立ち位置や周囲からの軋轢に対する 意思表明と見るのはそれ程穿った見方では無いと思うんですが？ どうでしょう？ 劇中の挿入歌のシーン。拾ってきたボーカリストの身なり、外観を見て 日頃白眼しされてきたはずの、バンドメンバーが「あ〜あ」⤵︎って 表情をする…。 それが歌い出すと…。 曲の哀感。ボーカルの声質。グッときます。 忘れられてほしく無い映画なんです。どーですか？

Très bon film à l'atmosphère très particulière... Revu avec nostalgie bien des années après mon premier visionnage. ! Bon jeu d'acteurs, musique géniale....