"Loose Caboose"
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What You Need To Know:
At its best, this movie delivers wonderful conversation among the various persuasions represented. The theological discussions are poignant, deep, heartfelt, and always include one true defender of God. At its worst, TRAIN OF LIFE is spoiled with some overt sexuality. One of the Jewish females is a sexual predator. TRAIN OF LIFE is a noble effort. As was the case with LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL, it is somewhat unbelievable that they could pull off this deception and fool the Germans. It will probably not gain a large audience, because it is not fashioned to be a crowd pleaser. It is the little train that could, but doesn’t quite make it to its destination.
Content:
(B, Co, AC, H, Pa, LL, V, SSS, NNN, A, D, M) Mostly moral drama about primarily God-fearing Jews who wish to escape the Holocaust via a train, with a few Communist characters, a few anti-Communist characters, National Socialists (Nazis), & two pagan sexually promiscuous women; 7 obscenities & 6 mostly exclamatory profanities; mild violence including smack to the face, pretend bullying by fake National Socialists (Nazis) & actual National Socialists (Nazis) burn buildings; woman exposes herself to man, man looks at women bathing, heavy kissing, some sexual dancing by gypsies, scenes of seduction, implied fornication, & one scene of brief fornication; full female nudity (but no genitalia) & several close images of upper female nudity; alcohol use; smoking; and, deception themes.
More Detail:
How far can this train chug? The train in question is a light comedy featuring Jews making the best of the National Socialist threat during the Holocaust. LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL used comedy effectively. JACOB THE LIAR did not. Though completed before LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL, TRAIN OF LIFE seems to have run out of steam with this same theme, despite it being more complex and ambitious than its predecessors. Winner of more than 10 international best film awards as well as the winner of the Audience Award at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival, its accolades are better applied to its intentions than its actual results.
Shlomo (Lionel Abelanski) brings news to a small Eastern European village that the National Socialists or Nazis are coming. Led by The Rabbi (Clement Harari), the village unites and buys a train. Their plan is to restore it, make it look German, sew Nazi costumes for those who know German, and pretend to deport themselves all the way to the Palestine.
Barbed banter, vehement arguments and a few lies punctuate the busy work. On completion, the town vanishes without a trace. However, when the train passes a station, they are quickly discovered as a “ghost train” – an unplanned, unknown train that needs explaining. They are stopped by actual Nazis. Mordechai, the Wood Merchant (Rufus), in full Nazi officer dress, convinces the actual Nazis that this train is undercover because it contains actual Communists.
Meanwhile on the train, the ravishing beauty, Esther (Agathe de la Fontaine), looks for a suitable husband, and Yossi (Michael Muller) rallies a small band of his friends to convert to Communism. Others debate the kindness of God. Another encounter with a supposed group of Nazis, an encounter with a band of Jewish gypsies and a few narrow escapes leads them closer and closer to freedom.
At its best, this movie delivers wonderful conversation among various persuasions during this time period. The movie delivers a real sense of what must be going on in the minds of frightened people. Likewise, the theological discussions are poignant, deep, heartfelt, and always include one true defender of God. (This type of conversation is very reminiscent of the best of Ingmar Bergman’s Swedish movies.) Furthermore, a real sense of peril is developed because of the exposed nature of this renegade group. In both LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL and JACOB THE LIAR, the struggle against the National Socialist menace was contained within a camp.
At its worst, TRAIN OF LIFE is spoiled with some overt sexuality. The sexual frankness of Esther, and a scene of her actually committing adultery are jarring, if not completely inappropriate for a movie of this nature. Desires for intimacy and marriage ignore the cruelties of war, but, if nothing else, the dignity and honor of these people is severely damaged by this untamed harlot among them. When they meet a group of gypsies, passions are inflamed even more, resulting in implied acts of fornication. On another sad note, it is sad to see Yossi’s passion for justice strip him of his own dignity and faith as he pursues Communism with great zeal. Finally, the conclusion of this movie ends rather abruptly and vaguely, not giving the audience the emotional satisfaction of a complete resolution.
TRAIN OF LIFE is a noble effort. As was the case with LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL, it is somewhat unbelievable that the characters could pull off this deception and fool the Germans. It will probably not gain a large audience, because it is not fashioned to be a general crowd pleaser. It is the little train that could, but it doesn’t quite invite everyone to board, nor does it achieve its goal.
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