Those Who Love Me Can Take the Train (1998)
"Ceux qui m'aiment prendront le train" (original title)

Friends of a recently deceased minor painter Jean-Baptiste take a train in Paris for Limoges, where he wished to be buried, and all the people on the train have their problems.

Director:

Patrice Chéreau

Writers:

Danièle Thompson (scenario), Patrice Chéreau (scenario),

Stars:

Pascal Greggory, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Charles Berling

6 wins & 11 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Pascal Greggory	...	François
Valeria Bruni Tedeschi	...	Claire (as Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi)
Charles Berling	...	Jean-Marie
Jean-Louis Trintignant	...	Lucien Emmerich / Jean-Baptiste Emmerich
Bruno Todeschini	...	Louis
Sylvain Jacques	...	Bruno
Vincent Perez	...	Viviane
Roschdy Zem	...	Thierry
Dominique Blanc	...	Catherine
Delphine Schiltz	...	Elodie
Nathan Kogen	...	Sami (as Nathan Cogan)
Marie Daëms	...	Lucie
Chantal Neuwirth	...	Geneviève
Thierry de Peretti	...	Dominique
Olivier Gourmet	...	Bernard

Storyline

Friends of a recently deceased minor painter Jean-Baptiste take a train in Paris for Limoges, where he wished to be buried, and all the people on the train have their problems.

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Plot Keywords:

train | friend | painter | teacher | artist | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

10 June 1998 (Belgium)

Also Known As:

Those Who Love Me Can Take the Train

Filming Locations:

Limoges, Haute-Vienne, France

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$7,804 (USA) (6 August 1999)

Gross:

$63,651 (USA) (10 September 1999)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Téléma, Canal+, France 2 Cinéma

Technical Specs

Runtime:

122 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

In the scene where Claire and Viviane are sitting at the table discussing Viviane's name, Claire's hands alternate between touching her face and resting on the table repeatedly between shots.

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Crazy Credits

The credit scroll reverses direction for the soundtrack section, temporarily scrolling down instead of up.

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Connections

Features A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985)

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Soundtracks

"Western Eyes"
Written by Beth Gibbons
Performed by Portishead

User Reviews

Frenetic, glossy, OTT, sexy

A drama queen's wet dream. It offers up a magnificent, almost epic gloss of the melodrama of at least 14 characters. The problem is that with a Robert Altman-sized cast crammed into 2 hours (Altman would take 3 or more), and screen time distributed more or less democratically, it's hard to get to know the characters--but some are very compelling anyway. The film is narrated and edited ridiculously, as if a novel had been tossed into a blender. Most scenes feel like they're less than a minute long yet are packed with dialogue. You might wonder if the filmmakers are trying to obscure script problems by making routine exposition an unusual chore.

However, the film's melodrama is presented in a lushly dark, romantic, Gallic way. There's something heady about the experience. And the film has some extraordinary settings. The cemetery is one of the most stunning locations since Scarlet O'Hara walked through the endless Confederate dead. And the train, crowded and zipping through the French countryside, is metaphoric in an undeniably physical way. Since Americans don't support public transportation, esp. trains, this experience struck me as unique.