Subway (1985)

Few romantic caper films are quite as unusually stylized as Subway, a film that is very distinctly a Luc Besson project in its whole look and feel. While largely flawed by the fact that it's never sure which story to tell, Subway is still an engaging and creative film that wins a lot of points just for those traits alone. Romance can be a tricky thing; either too sappy for most or not enough for others. Subway bypasses those problems by making the romantic aspect here almost surrealistic in nature. We have no comparison to judge it by because few romantic films are quite as chaotic and skewed. Set primarily in the Paris Metro, Subway introduces us to Fred (Christopher ) and Helena (Isabelle Adjani), as strange a couple as there ever was. Fred,having recently just robbed Helena's home, is hiding out in the subways to avoid the police as well as the private security team that Helena's wealthy husband controls. Fred could earnestly care less about money, but he ransoms the valuable information he's obtained from Helena's safe just so he can keep seeing her. Unable to leave the subway, though, Fred finds himself in an unusual subterranean world inhabited by all sorts of unusual people. In the depths of the Metro, he finds a society of thieves, musicians, and other sorts, all hiding from something or another, but still finding themselves blissfully free of many of society's problems. Helena, anxious to rid herself of Fred, decides to pursue him into the depths of the subway and, along the way, discovers that maybe this unusual world is more to her taste than the high-class society she's used to. In the process, a whirlwind relationship of sorts begins between her and Fred, set amongst the chaos of living inside a subway station with a variety of mysterious personalities. Although much about Subway seems directly descended from the French "new wave" filmmaking style, it's anything but pretentious. Instead, Besson mixes his trademark, bold, widescreen visuals with a plot that in many ways makes very little sense and almost mocks itself. Subway could have been some kind of film-noir or taut thriller if it wanted to be, but instead, it's a comedy of errors, filled with human characters all the more charming because of their offbeat attitudes. Subway's central problem is that it often frustrates the viewer by abandoning certain subplots. While enjoyable on the whole, Besson really should have focused the story on either the romance between Fred and Helena, or the story of Fred's life amongst the Subway people. Covering both so equally leads to a feeling of uncertainty about just what is happening. The romance aspect, though cute, is also pretty vague and paced extremely fast. Given that it's supposed to be a bit weird, this fits, but still throws many people off the concept. Story flaws aside, the cast is primarily the reason for the success of the film; Christopher Lambert and Isabelle Adjani taking most of the film on their shoulders very well. Familiar Besson film faces are also present: Jean Reno as the unknown drummer in Fred's weird underground band (literally), Jean-Hughes Anglade as the thieving Roller, Jean Bouise (Le DernierCombat) is the station master, and even composer Eric Serra makes an appearance as the bass guitarist in Fred's band. I think any fan of other offbeat, intensely stylish Besson films like The Big Blue or Nikita will find themselves at home here. It isn't perfect, but the willingness of the cast and crew to do something so fresh and interesting makes it a unique vision, much like a good deal of the director's work.