The narrative brilliantly brings out the conflict that is often present in a relationship between an author and her character. Does an author possess complete authority over her created character, or can a character exist independently after a certain point of time? Well, both of them are possible, and this film is precisely about the dynamics of power that plays out between the creator and the creation.
As Jean, a film director, boards a train along with his producer and assistant, they decide to build a plot for a thriller starting from the very train they are seated in. Consequently, a stranger enters their compartment for a brief while before leaving for another compartment, and this person, whom they decide to name as Elias, becomes the protagonist of the tale they start spinning. After a series of heart-racing events, escapades, and encounters, we observe Elias' fate unfolding in the fingertips of Jean, where sometimes certain incidents are replayed for corrections, rewinded for plot improvements, or deleted for plot efficiency. One feels the detached and objective manner in which Jean handles the adventures of his protagonist, often making him suffer through betrayals, harassment, and eventually a cruel death.
However, as they wrap up their story with a well-constructed conclusion, we see a return of the protagonist, along with another character, after their death. Elias comes back to life to unite with Eva, a double agent with whom he developed a short sadomasochistic relationship. In the plot narrated out by Jean, Elias kills Eva out of mistrust; this particular episode turns out to be quite depressing, especially after the strange development of a strong sexual relationship between them. But in the end, the film closes with a shot of Elias and Eva meeting each other in the same platform where Jean and his team arrived. The immediate killing of Eva is suggested to be so improbable that the characters resurrect themselves to live beyond the narrative threads of the director and his mates.
By looking back at the camera in the last freeze-shot frame of the film, the characters reclaim their authority; almost suggesting the denial of Elias and Eva in accepting the fate meted out by their author(s).
As Jean, a film director, boards a train along with his producer and assistant, they decide to build a plot for a thriller starting from the very train they are seated in. Consequently, a stranger enters their compartment for a brief while before leaving for another compartment, and this person, whom they decide to name as Elias, becomes the protagonist of the tale they start spinning. After a series of heart-racing events, escapades, and encounters, we observe Elias' fate unfolding in the fingertips of Jean, where sometimes certain incidents are replayed for corrections, rewinded for plot improvements, or deleted for plot efficiency. One feels the detached and objective manner in which Jean handles the adventures of his protagonist, often making him suffer through betrayals, harassment, and eventually a cruel death.
However, as they wrap up their story with a well-constructed conclusion, we see a return of the protagonist, along with another character, after their death. Elias comes back to life to unite with Eva, a double agent with whom he developed a short sadomasochistic relationship. In the plot narrated out by Jean, Elias kills Eva out of mistrust; this particular episode turns out to be quite depressing, especially after the strange development of a strong sexual relationship between them. But in the end, the film closes with a shot of Elias and Eva meeting each other in the same platform where Jean and his team arrived. The immediate killing of Eva is suggested to be so improbable that the characters resurrect themselves to live beyond the narrative threads of the director and his mates.
By looking back at the camera in the last freeze-shot frame of the film, the characters reclaim their authority; almost suggesting the denial of Elias and Eva in accepting the fate meted out by their author(s).