Subway | Isabelle Adjani, Constantin Alexandrov

Subway | Isabelle Adjani, Constantin Alexandrov | Avant-Garde and Stylistic

DVDs:

Subway

	Subway Isabelle Adjani, Constantin Alexandrov Sony Pictures, 2001 average customer review:based on 50 reviews view larger image
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This dark and highly stylized French import directed by Luc Besson (The Fifth Element, The Professional) concerns an enigmatic safecracker played by Christopher Lambert (Highlander) hiding out in the Paris Metro system from a gangster. While living in the underground and eluding both gangsters and Metro police he meets up with a group of colorful and quirky subterranean inhabitants eager to help him and start a rock band. All the while the safecracker blackmails a rich woman (Isabelle Adjani) with whom he is in love. Meant to be a tongue-in-cheek commentary on urban life, the film works better as a light freewheeling entertainment, with well-constructed fast-paced action sequences and a breezy sense of humor about itself. Subway is an intriguing diversion and a chance to see the cutting edge of modern French moviemaking. --Robert Lane

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style, style, and more style

I was lucky enough to see this film theatrically when it came out in 1985. It definitely loses it's artistic impact on the small screen, but it's something that constantly keeps your eyes engaged. Almost every promo shot for this film had Christopher Lambert holding that portable light fixture -- in fact the theatre I went to see it at ran an ad along the lines of "Christopher Lambert is a light sabre-toting cat burgler". In actuality, he has it in his hand for about thirty seconds, before he lets it slip as he loses his footing on a catwalk. Shades of the BLADE RUNNER promo sheet of Harrison Ford running across the top of a car. Was that shot even in the film? Still, that image of Lambert (like the rest of the film's visual palette) is pretty cool. Stay away from the cheaper copies -- the quality is worse then a VHS dub. The Bassist (also doing double duty as film composer) is Eric Serra, who recently composed the score for BULLETPROOF MONK. Lots to look at, and some great music to boot. Well worth the purchase.

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Avant-Garde and Stylistic

This French film was the directorial debut for a then 26-year-old Luc Besson. Christopher Lambert and Isabelle Adjani are a surprise great match. It's both a romantic comedy and social satire over a group of vagabonds who live underground in the Paris metro system. There is more than one story with Adjani and Lambert tying in the characters. It is not clear what the "papers" are that Lambert has stolen from Adjani, which hints that its a ploy on both ends to spend time together.

I <3 the 80s

As a gift to myself I purchased the Luc Besson Collection. Two-thirds of the movies I was familiar with. This was one I was not. But what have I got to lose? I mean, let's evaluate what it had going for it before even watching it, alright? It was a Luc Besson film, ok, points earned there. Jean Reno (from Leon, the Professional) was in it, obvious trademark, but something I always enjoy. And hey, look at this, Christopher Lambert (from Highlander) was in it, kudos!

Quickly, in order to become genuinely immersed in this film, I'd like you to consider two methods of watching it. I recommend watching it in French with the English subtitles. I think you get a much better feel for the personality of the film this way. Watching it English dubbed (with English subtitles) you find that some of the language is not translated correctly. For example, Fred speaks about being a six year old in a car accident, but the English subtitles say five. Sure, it is only a small difference, but it is not the only one - in this sense, the movie is consistently inconsistent. Watch it in French, it's much better that way.

I think movies which spotlight small and strange sub-sub-cultures are utterly fascinating to me. Here we are thrown into an underground life, where strangers protect and help one another in a moment, knowing that one always needs allies in a world always out to get you.

While I can see how some might be shocked and confused by the events and the relationships between the characters - I think it is all true-to-life - in the sense that people are unpredictable, with history and complexities that can not be fully addressed or understood in the hour-and-a-half given, nor should they be.

So I enjoyed this European story telling, even if it was trapped by the 80s influence of bad clothing and hair style choices. It adds to the quirky charm.

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Fred's underground adventure...

I looked into the film Subway (1985) because I was interested in other work done by Luc Besson, director of such films like La Femme Nikita (1990) and Léon: The Professional (1994). Now I realized from the outset this film was going to be more of an avant-garde affair based on the reviews (many tout style over substance), but what I didn't realize was just how boring and pointless it was going to be...the film stars Christopher Lambert (Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes, Highlander), whose in the process of making yet another Highlander film titled Highlander: The Source (2005)...talk about milking something for all its worth...along with Isabelle Adjani (The Tenant, Ishtar). Also appearing is Richard Bohringer (The Cook the Thief His Wife & Her Lover), Michel Galabru (La Cage aux folles), Jean-Hugues Anglade (Taking Lives), and Jean Reno (Mission: Impossible, Ronin).

The film begins with a pretty exciting car chase as a character we later come to know as Fred (Lambert), decked out in white, spikey hair and a tuxedo, speeds away from a group of men intent on getting his attention by playing a high-speed game of bumper tag. The chase ends near a subway, to which Fred utilizes to escape from his pursuers, making his way into the dark labyrinth of steel and concrete. Apparently Fred (described as a `hipster' thief on the DVD case) had been attending a party, one host by a millionaire and his beautiful wife named Helena (Adjani), stole some important documents, and is now holding them for ransom. Problem is, Fred finds himself falling for Helena, which only serves to complicate matters. These scenes are mixed in with various scenes of all the different and interesting folk Fred meets underneath the subway (sadly, there are no mole men), many of which have absolutely nothing to do with the story whatsoever but help fill out an hour and forty minute running time. So what does Fred intend to do with this money once he gets it? How about starting a band with the various underground (literally) musicians he's since met while hiding out from the cops and hired thugs?

First of all, one should be wary as there are numerous DVD releases of this film, some much worse than others, and Amazon has mixed the reviews for these various releases together in a cross-linkage nightmare (good job guys). The one I watched, and am now reviewing is the Columbia/Tristar Studios DVD (ASIN: B00005OSJO) release with Lambert holding a neon light and features blue graphics on the cover (it also appears to be the more expensive version). The version to avoid is the one with the two shot of Adjani and Lambert where it appears Lambert is sliding his hand into Adjani's shirt. Getting back to the film itself...as I mentioned before, many reviewers have commented on element of style over substance with regards to this film, but I felt it had little of either, which brings up another question...are all French directors required to produce one ` New Wave' film during their career? I've got nothing against New Wave cinema as I enjoy films like Alphaville (1965) and Repo Man (1984), but the aspects consistent with that style of film didn't really come through here for me. That's not to say they wouldn't for someone else, though, as it comes down to ones own interpretation...the movie just seemed plodding and pointless with little symbolistic and/or abstract conceptual present, two of the elements supposedly prevalent over the more traditional aspects like plot, defined characters, narrative i.e. an actual story. Also, what little there appears to be of the former seems to be what it is only on a very superficial level...I know there's no formula for determining this kind of thing, but if you're going to go this route, then jump in with both feet and give the audience something to chew on...that' just my opinion...really well done avant-garde works one different levels in that, on the surface it can entertain, while also maintaining a depth for those whose wish to explore further and develop their own ideas with regards to underlying themes and their significance. I will say even though there was a prevalent sense of boredom throughout for me, the film did look good as Besson, if nothing else, knows how to set up a shot. Another positive aspect about the film is the music, much of it composed by Eric Serra, who actually appears in the film as Enrico, the bassist. Serra has since gone on to score any number of films including La Femme Nikita (1990), GoldenEye (1995), and Rollerball (2002). I did think the idea of people living and existing beneath the subway an interesting idea, but not completely original as I've seen it before in the 1972 film Death Line aka Raw Meat, although that was a story about cannibals living beneath the London subway, surviving off the occasional passenger snatched from the platform. One thing I did learn from this film is the subways in Paris are reasonably clean and remarkably free of vermin like rats and roaches, something generally prevalent in the belly of metropolitan mass-transit beasts.

The widescreen anamorphic (2.35:1) picture on this DVD look decent, but isn't without some very minor flaws, ones most viewers will be able to live with in slight age defects. The Dolby 2.0 audio comes through cleanly enough. It's odd as the DVD seems to be set to play the English dub along with the English subtitles, but this can be changed. I would recommend the original French track with English subtitles (the English dubbing is pretty lousy). There are a couple of extras in the way of filmographies for some of the cast and crew, along with trailers for Léon: The Professional (1994), The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999), and The Big Blue (1988). No trailer for this film, though...

Cookieman108

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Interesting.

SUBWAY is a very interesting movie. It's more of a movie that is focused on the characters, rather than the plot itself. Definitely buy the enhanced version (the one with Lambert holding the neon light). The dubs aren't that great, but at least Lambert dubbed himself. I suggest watching it with the subtitles first. Being a Lambert fan, I figured I'd check out the film in which he one best actor in France's Caesar Awards. It's a very interesting movie, I more appreciated it, but it was entertaining nonetheless. Worth the buy if you're a Lambert or Besson fan.

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