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The only recent thrilling movies for me have been Leos Carax’s Holy Motors (2012), a French movie that I called deliriously inventive in my review for Critics at Large, and Paolo and Vittorio Taviani’s Caesar Must Die (Cesare deve morire) (2012), which deserved the rave review it received from Critics at Large’s Steve Vineberg. The former was a tale of a man riding through the streets of Paris as he carries out mysterious assignments that zig-zagged in an unpredictable and never contrived fashion; the latter contained strong undercurrents of drama and tension in its tale of prisoners staging Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. I actually didn’t want either of them to end. Otherwise, it was only last year’s stunning digital re-release of Steven Spielberg’s Jaws (1975), only the wunderkind’s second feature, and the 1948 British movie Sleeping Car to Trieste, that were genuinely and viscerally exciting.
Jaws is a reminder that it’s still one of the best horror movies ever to come out of Hollywood. More than just a shark movie, it blends scares, humour, social commentary and very strong characterization to create an indelible film that should appeal to everyone who likes movies that actually move, excite (there’s that word again!) and compel in equal measure.
But last year’s real discovery for me was Sleeping Car to Trietse, which plays out as a grittier, faster version of Casablanca, with exotic characters, the template of a thriller, and a cynical though less romantic view of the world. Set in post-war Europe and brilliantly directed by journeyman director John Paddy Carstairs, Sleeping Car to Trieste, itself a remake of a 1932 movie called Rome Express, was a surprise, when I introduced it sight unseen for the Toronto Film Society and then sat down to watch a tattered 16mm print that kept breaking down towards the end, before giving up the ghost 30 seconds before its gripping conclusion. (The movie is available on DVD and is listed in the Turner Classics Movie database though I’m not sure it’s ever been broadcast there. It should be as it’s right up the channel’s alley.)
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A scene from Sleeping Car to Trieste |
Sleeping Car to Treieste was adult, fast moving, witty and superbly acted by all concerned. In short, it offered thrills largely absent in almost all recent Hollywood action/super hero films while showcasing its depicted world in singular fashion. It demonstrated how movies should be done. Too bad it’s a lesson most current filmmakers are not heeding.
– Shlomo Schwartzberg is a film critic, teacher and arts journalist based in Toronto. He teaches regular film courses at Ryerson University’s LIFE Institute and the Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre.
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