Warm Nights on a Slow Moving Train (1988)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

Director:

Bob Ellis

Writers:

Bob Ellis (written by)
Denny Lawrence (written by)

Release Date:

31 March 1989 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

She is an art teacher at a quiet suburban Catholic school, attractive, well-mannered and worldly, yet during the weekend...

Plot:

A convent teacher spreads a little happiness and makes enough money to support her crippled brother's...

Plot Keywords:

Train | Independent Film

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Wendy Hughes	...	Girl
Colin Friels	...	Man
Norman Kaye	...	Salesman
John Clayton	...	Football coach
Rod Zuanic	...	Young soldier
Lewis Fitz-Gerald	...	Brian
Steve J. Spears	...	Singer
Grant Tilly	...	Politician
Peter Whitford	...	Steward
Peter Sullivan	...	Piano-playing steward
Chris Haywood	...	Stationmaster
John Flaus	...	Taxi driver
Peter Carmody	...	Second Class passenger

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Australia:M | USA:R | UK:18

Filming Locations:

Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia

Company:

Western Pacific Films

Teacher. Whore. Assassin.

Based on an idea by director Bob Ellis, producer Patrick Juillet and Denny Lawrence, the narrative for this Australian film centers on Jenny Nicholson aka The Girl (Wendy Hughes), a Melbourne Catholic school art teacher who subsidises her income by working as a prostitute on the weekend train to Sydney. Jenny rationalises the activity as a means to finance the supply of morphine to her disabled athlete brother Brian (Lewis Fitz-Gerald) but she also sees what she does as a social service, to `increase happiness' of `potential murderers'. However Jenny's quest is challenged when she meets The Man (Colin Friels) who seduces her so that she will murder for him.

Although Hughes isn't the prostitute type, there is fun to be had in observing her sociopathic reactions to each man she chooses, as well as in her changing hairstyles, speech and manner. She is funniest with The Singer (Steve J Spears), passive with Brian, and the most relaxed with The Man, who gets the worst of Ellis' reknowned brand of ennui eg `Everyone seeks a system of belief and everyone has to believe their system of belief is correct', and `In a reasonable society, no man should be held responsible in law for what happens after 3 a.m.'.The Man also gets to quote Robert Frost and has a laugh line in that his target for assassination `has a publicised fondness for trains'. The `warm nights' of the title refers to both Jenny's adventures and Brian's situation, where he describes an overdose of morphine as the same, whilst Jenny's train room being the `Judy Garland suite' isn't as funny as intended. In spite of an indeterminate accent, Friels is extraordinarily sexy, and director Ellis creates suspense in the moment where a poison device cannot be disposed of, and skill in his use of montage.