Those Who Love Me Can Take The Train

Ideas of love, life and art jostle with squabbles, revelations and recriminations in this, Patrice Chereau's impeccably played drama of dynastic dysfunction.

The train of the title is the claustrophobic setting of the film's opening, which sees a number of eclectic characters on their way to a funeral. The funeral is for the bisexual bastard of a painter (Trintignant), whose true talent lies in being able to manipulate those around him with ease.

Amongst those manipulated are a gay critic (Greggory) and a feuding couple (Charles Berling and Tadeschi), who find themselves destroyed by a lethal combination of drugs and jealousies. Questions of love and manipulation are all brought to consideration, and whether anyone loves anyone else is starkly brought into question.

What emerges from the story is as complex and intense a study of passion, patronage and powerbroking as Chereau's previous effort, the impeccable La Reine Margot. This is the approximate equivalent of high costume drama but rendered within modern idiom by an overriding cruel vision. Shot with an eye for painful detail, the viewer feels compelled and aggrieved in equal measures as the high drama slowly unfolds.