La bataille du rail (1946)
(The Battle of the Rails)
Country: FR
Technical: bw 85m
Director: René Clément
Cast: Marcel Barnault, Jean Clarieux, Jean Daurand
Synopsis:
During the closing stages of the war in France, thanks to Resistance infiltration into the train despatch hub, railway workers coordinate to delay the expedition of armaments trains to northern France.
Review:
Like Rossellini's Paisà, Clément's film was tremendously important for restoring a sense of pride after the war and bolstering the myth of the Resistance as a national effort. A modest amount of documentary footage is blended with reconstruction to create a semblance of realism, and the film is rich in detail as to the stratagems - and risks - available to the 'cheminots', before settling down to a continuous narrative of sabotage along the track that must surely have influenced Frankenheimer's The Train (1965). Some material surrounding a third 'train à grue' (crane), coming from it is not clear which direction, does not quite gel with what goes on around it, but this is nevertheless a gripping piece of drama with one spectacular train wreck that would appear to have been full scale.
(The Battle of the Rails)
Country: FR
Technical: bw 85m
Director: René Clément
Cast: Marcel Barnault, Jean Clarieux, Jean Daurand
Synopsis:
During the closing stages of the war in France, thanks to Resistance infiltration into the train despatch hub, railway workers coordinate to delay the expedition of armaments trains to northern France.
Review:
Like Rossellini's Paisà, Clément's film was tremendously important for restoring a sense of pride after the war and bolstering the myth of the Resistance as a national effort. A modest amount of documentary footage is blended with reconstruction to create a semblance of realism, and the film is rich in detail as to the stratagems - and risks - available to the 'cheminots', before settling down to a continuous narrative of sabotage along the track that must surely have influenced Frankenheimer's The Train (1965). Some material surrounding a third 'train à grue' (crane), coming from it is not clear which direction, does not quite gel with what goes on around it, but this is nevertheless a gripping piece of drama with one spectacular train wreck that would appear to have been full scale.
(The Battle of the Rails)
Country: FR
Technical: bw 85m
Director: René Clément
Cast: Marcel Barnault, Jean Clarieux, Jean Daurand
Synopsis:
During the closing stages of the war in France, thanks to Resistance infiltration into the train despatch hub, railway workers coordinate to delay the expedition of armaments trains to northern France.
Review:
Like Rossellini's Paisà, Clément's film was tremendously important for restoring a sense of pride after the war and bolstering the myth of the Resistance as a national effort. A modest amount of documentary footage is blended with reconstruction to create a semblance of realism, and the film is rich in detail as to the stratagems - and risks - available to the 'cheminots', before settling down to a continuous narrative of sabotage along the track that must surely have influenced Frankenheimer's The Train (1965). Some material surrounding a third 'train à grue' (crane), coming from it is not clear which direction, does not quite gel with what goes on around it, but this is nevertheless a gripping piece of drama with one spectacular train wreck that would appear to have been full scale.