cinemajesty Film Review: "Subway" (1985)Even though performers Isabelle Adjani and Christopher Lambert make a beautiful as stylish match, director Luc Besson's debut feature stays in emotional, restraining darkness of missing a point of living within the Parisian "Metro", when thrills are limited alongside supporting characters, portrayed by Richard Bohringer as the best scenes-giving "Le fleurist" and Michel Galabru (1922-2016) as Commissaire Gesberg always on the rush to catch leading character Fred as actor Christopher Lambert keeps the cool but in retrospective has not been tested enough by 25-year-old Luc Besson, who just uses an cinematic kaleidoscope of infinite ideas, clashing them, within never-seen-the-light-of-day scenes as "Subway" concludes at a slowly-received close to a 100-Minute-Editorial by editor Sophie Schmit, which then Luc Besson wisely exchanged to promoted editor Olivier Mauffroy, departing from life in 2013, for his first great motion picture "Le gran blue"; in reminiscene staying the opening spectacle of Cannes 1988.Copyright 2018 Cinemajesty Entertainments LLC

fran_262 Before seeing the film, I knew absolutely nothing about it other than it was released in the 80s, and reflected the 'cinéma du look'- an 80s film movement. My first impressions were that style had been perhaps over-emphasised in order to smokescreen a less-than-intriguing plot, but later on I found the film to develop many relevant and pertinent themes, such as gender, social class, and national identity. Music played a significant part the film, and the director played around with both diegetic and non-diegetic music. I had heard Subway compared to Drive by an acquaintance, but I found few similarities myself other than the use of synthesised music, and in terms of camera use, several close-ups of characters' expressions to show emotions and the building of relationships. The film depicts the 'underground culture' of the metro, where Fred meets many colourful characters, many of whom do not serve the plot, but bring humour to the film. In terms of class, we see a distinct contrast between the bourgeoisie characters, and the habitants of the metro, with the character of Helena sliding from one to the other. Interestingly in terms of gender, the metro appears to be portrayed as a 'mans space', and Helena is later shown as a strong woman, who makes her own decisions. It is said that Luc Besson mixed genres for a playful effect and for reasons of style over cinematographic statement, and references to popular culture, such as the mention of Batman and Robin. The ending is rather ambiguous, we are left wondering the fate of Fred and what will happen regarding his relationship with Helena. Overall, despite a plot which is not strictly concrete or wholly intriguing, the film is enjoyable and aesthetically pleasing, with humour and romance which was pleasing to see.

owwo-715-568460 Subway is one of the first Luc Besson's movies, and one of his best too.It features a string of actors who are superstars in France (Galabru, Reno, Bohringer, Bacri, Adjiani, Lambert, Anglade), some of whom will later on get international recognition. They are the type of artists who can transform a few simple lines into memorable scenes.The ambiance is cleverly created. A few marginals who do not care about belonging to "society" all meet in that maze that is the Paris underground and its maintenance tunnels. They are moody, unpredictable, and uninterested by retirement plans or the perfect consumer life that most are buying into. And the police that tracks them is equally as twisted and moody. Of course, there are means gangsters throw in for good measure ... and a true love story.The script comes across quite well in English, but some of the humor gets lost along the way.This is cult movie from the 80s. Many french in their 30s have probably seen it more than 5 times, many of whom likely own a copy of the soundtrack. Highly recommended: 9 out of 10

lost-in-limbo Truly I had no clue about what was going on in French director Luc Besson's offbeat, but terribly jerky story involving a sly safe cracker fleeing to the underground Paris Metro, after stealing some important documents off a millionaire that he would try to ransom off to. The bubblegum romantic-crime-drama premise is a washing machine filled with ideas, which are hanging off a very loose, but unpredictable plot. There's not much groundwork, but its impulsive nature, trivial gimmicks and interesting urban environment just gets you caught in the disjointed whirlwind of these strenuously adventurous situations, melancholy despair and eccentric characters. The delirious script never takes itself seriously (the humour is strong) and feels insignificant, but it sure had many awkward and lumpy exchanges. Some passages feel quite useless, and have poor continuity, but there's a certain charm that's hard to resist. The English dubbed version sounds quite terrible though. It's like Besson has thrown caution to the wind, and is experimenting with his visually sharp prowess and stylish verve to get any sort of impact and details through. His placement, pacing and overall enthusiasm is impeccable. Some action sequences, mainly the opening car chase scene is very well delivered. He draws so much form very little and never seems bounded by logic. From the get-go he storms right in and never lets the smoking composition, slick atmosphere sway off course. Brimming in is an electrifying tacky electronic / rock soundtrack (by Eric Serra) and Carlo Varini's camera-work beautifully illustrates Besson's characteristically moody framings. The worthwhile cast do an admirable job. Christopher Lambert's broodingly dry and grasping performance has an immensely hypnotic ambiance to it. An alluring Isabelle Adjani draws up an infectiously collected, and classy performance. There's enjoyably fine kooky support from Jean-Hughes Anglade, Richard Bohringer, Jean-Pierre Barcri, Michel Galabru and the always delightful Besson regular Jean Reno.Besson's "Subway" is resourcefully fun and colourful pulp, if a rather jaded experience.