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13 Apr 2003
This afternoon we saw 'L'Homme Du Train' — the latest film directed by Patrice Leconte. I'm a big Patrice Leconte fan. His 'The Hairdresser's Husband' is my favourite Depressing French Film, and as I also enjoyed 'Ridicule' and 'The Widow of Saint Pierre', I was really looking forward to this one.
The story is a relatively simple one: Monsieur Manesquier (Jean Rochefort), a retired teacher, is mouldering away in the big family house when Milan (Johnny Hallyday), a bank robber, comes into his life. The two become friends of sorts and long for the life that the other has. Milan is getting old and tired of running and hiding, while Manesquier feels as if he has never lived at all but just followed a grinding, dull routine. Both leads are superb, and there are moments of comedy and pathos as well as a typically bleak and depressing atmosphere. In my favourite scene, Manesquier gives Milan a lesson in the art of wearing slippers (not surprisingly, given his lifestyle, he's never worn them). "No! Don't pick your feet up — drag them!". Both men try on the other's lifestyle, but — like wearing someone else's clothes — they never really look at home in them.