When I was a little boy,I had an old dream:I was in an endless tunnel (or was it a subway?)and I could never get out of it.
It was George Franju's last short just before he broached his great works "La Tete Contre Les Murs" and " Les Yeux Sans Visage".
Two of Franju's most salutary qualities were his sense of mystery and his liking for unusual things.It's almost a silent movie,only music and noises.
This movie is dedicated to people who feel nostalgic for their childhood .It takes place in the Parisian Metropolitan (Metro) .It's not exactly what you expect ,it's not really a teenage love short ,it's actually much more.
The first segment is realistic,and one enjoys the old Metro with its 1st and 2nd class compartments ,the automatic ticket barrier ,all these have become things of the past.A little boy ,who's just seen a little girl's face on the street , rushes with the crowd in a Metro station.
The second segment is a dream (or is it?) :the boy is alone is the Metro at night ,he enters a new territory where children fear to tread ,but he seems fascinated by these very long corridors,these empty stations,these trains which seem to come from nowhere bound for nowhere.He meets again the girl for a short while when his train passes hers going in the other direction.His eyes meet hers.A small tear runs down his face.
A strange poetry emanates from this 1958 short,coming from a man who hated the Nouvelle Vague.
