La Fille du RER 2009

     This film is based on a play written by Jean-Marie Besset and it is also based on actual facts.  The title in English is The Girl on the Train.  Jeanne is a young woman, striking but otherwise without other qualities.  Her mother tries to get her a job in the office of a lawyer, his name is Bleistein and he was her lover years ago.  Jeanne fails the interview but begins a new relationship with Franck.  He is a wrestler with dreams and he has claims to be in a legitimate business partnership.  Jeanne is only too happy to believe whatever Bleistein tells her.  When Franck is arrested, he scolds Jeanne for her naivety.  She's terribly stung and she seeks attention by making up a story of an anti-Semetic attack on a train?  This accusation causes Jeanne to receive media attention because of the sensation it creates.  Is there any way out for her now?  In a subplot, Bleistein's grandson Nathan, prepares for his bar mitzvah.  Through an encounter with Jeanne he experiences his first realizations of manhood.

     This film tells the true story of a young woman who claimed to be the victim of a crime on a Paris suburban train.  She was exposed as a liar when her story failed to add up.  In a city fraught with ethnic tensions, her tall tale opened up fault lines between races, religions and political affiliations running far deeper than the lie itself.  It is a film that pulls off the tricky feat of moving quickly while taking its time.  Like its rollerblading protagonist, it is constantly on the move. Hurtling headfirst into a series of interlocking relationships.  Yet the director, Andre Techine is less interested in his story’s destination than he is with the journey his characters take to get there.  There are various circumstances that lead them to make life-altering and often inexplicable choices.  Possibly, they need head examinations due to their thinking processes??  3* (This movie is OK)

97 min, Drama directed and written by Andre Techine and also written by Odile Barski and Jean-Marie Besset with Emilie Dequenne, Michel Blanc, Catherine Deneuve, Mathieu Demy, Ronit Elkabetz, Nicolas Duvauchelle, Jeremie Quaegebeur, Djibril Pavade, Alain Cauchi, Amer Alwan, Melaine Leconte.

Note:  Imdb 6* out of 10* with 1477 reviews, Rotten Tomatoes 76% with 62 critic reviews 43% with 1000+ audience scores, Roger Ebert 3*, Metacritic 68 out of 100 with 21 critic reviews, 5.3 out of 10 with 4 user scores, Amazon 4.2* out of 5* with 3 reviews, Letterboxd 2.9* out of 5*, The Guardian 3* out of 5* Peter Bradshaw.

Special Note:  Filming locations were Paris Charles de Gaulie Airport, Roissy-en-France, Val-d’Oise, France.