Man on the Train Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		3.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.5

Man on the Train Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov April 29, 2023

Patrice Leconte's "Man on the Train" a.k.a. "L'homme du train" (2002) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The only bonus feature on the release is a vintage trailer for the film. In French, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

If Patrice Leconte had chosen not to use names to identify the two protagonists and cut down the dialog in half, Man on the Train would have been an almost perfect film. To make it a perfect film, Leconte would have had to shoot it in black-and-white and tweak its finale a bit. However, had Leconte done so, I suspect that a prominent party would have accused him of mimicking Jean-Pierre Melville’s work.

Leconte’s camera makes contact with the first protagonist, Milan (Johnny Holliday), a man in his early sixties, while he rides a train. He wears a slightly worn-out but very stylish black leather jacket that instantly reveals where he comes from -- the big city. Later, after he gets off the train and begins looking for a pharmacy or deli to purchase a bottle of aspirin, he sticks out like a sore thumb. He has arrived in a small provincial town that appears to be shutting down as soon as the sun goes down, and the place is clearly a foreign territory for him.

The second protagonist, Manesquier (Jean Rochefort), emerges in what seems to be the only pharmacy in town. He is at least ten years older and wears a long gray coat that easily adds another five. He is either looking for something unimportant or wasting time in the pharmacy and as soon as Milan pays for his bottle of aspirin turns around and follows him out. Moments later, after Milan expresses disappointment that he has been given soluble pills, Manesquier casually offers to give him a glass of water at his place, an old chateau, which is right around the corner.

Milan has his glass of water and leaves, but an hour later returns because what appears to be the only hotel in town is closed. Manesquier enthusiastically offers him a room and explains why Milan was out of luck. “Tourists are scarce in November. Just as they are in July.”

In the next couple of days, while slowly bonding, Milan and Maesquier learn about each. Milan has come to town to rob a bank with a couple of old associates. Maesquier is a retired teacher who specializes in classic poetry. Milan is tired of making ends meet as a gangster. Maesquier is fed up explaining old books to his very young private students. Milan has seen enough action in his life and now wants peace and quiet to enjoy what is left of it. Maesquier has lived an uneventful life and dreams of experiencing a bit of action before his time is up.

When Maesquier politely asks, Milan lets him use one of his guns. While Maesquier shoots cans and repeatedly misses, Milan teaches him the importance of feeling the weight of the gun and understanding what it can do. Later, Milan takes Maesquier’s spot and reveals to one of his private students how to ignore the fluff when deconstructing classic poetry.

Before Milan and his associates go to work, Maesquier offers to give him enough money that would make his participation in the job meaningless. At his age, Maesquier no longer needs the money. Milan needs the money, but in his line of work, a commitment is priceless.

The simplicity of Man on the Train is seriously deceiving. For example, this film does some very interesting things that force the viewer to ponder the classic definitions of fate and identity. The ability of contemporary reality to blur the line that separates right and wrong is a major theme as well.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Man on the Train juggles two different identities as well. One is the identity of a neo-noir thriller that takes its atmosphere so seriously it nearly runs out of opportunities to tell an exciting story. The other is the identity of a classic western that has been disguised as a contemporary low-budget heist thriller. Because the two identities freely but very effectively overlap, the end product is an unusually stylish film that would have been declared a classic had Leconte directed it during the 1950s or 1960s.

Director of photography Jean-Marie Dreujou carefully uses light and shadow to control the atmosphere and mood of Man on the Train. Also, the thick blues and grays that flood the nighttime visuals remind of Yves Angelo’s equally effective work with the colors yellow and brown in Alan Corneau’s contemporary remake of Melville's classic gangster film Le Deuxième Souffle.

Man on the Train Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.34:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Man on the Train arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

I have in my library this R2 DVD release of Man on the Train that Pathe Distribution produced twenty years ago. I pulled it out and did some comparisons with the Blu-ray release. In 1080p, the film looks better and on a larger screen the visuals hold better. However, the master that was used to prepare the Blu-ray release produces very, very dated visuals that do not have stable organic qualities. For example, delineation and depth are often mediocre, so in a lot of the stylized visuals, which are usually the darker visuals, there is plenty of room for improvement. Also, there are traces of contrast boosting and sharpening that makes the grain appear clumpy and even smeary, a bit like what you would expect to see on an older master that was supplied by Universal Pictures. Colors are stable. However, the primaries and the supporting nuances can be better saturated and balanced. At the moment, in areas where highlights should be handled very well some of the supporting nuances struggle a lot. Image stability is very good. All in all, the Blu-ray release offers an all-around better presentation of Man on the Train than my R2 DVD release does, but the upgrade in quality is small. If properly remastered in 4K, this film will look gorgeous in 1080p and breathtakingly beautiful in native 4K. My score is 3.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-A"locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Man on the Train Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and French DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

I viewed the entire film with the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. I do not have any complaints. I think that it handles Pascal Esteve's moody score and reproduces all dynamic contrasts very well. All exchanges are very clear, stable, and easy to follow. The English translation was very good, too.

Man on the Train Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - presented here is a vintage U.S. trailer for Man on the Train. In English and French, with English subtitles where necessary. (2 min).

Man on the Train Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I could only guess whether Patrice Leconte thought of Man on the Train as a neo-noir film when he decided to do it, but if he did, I think it is fair to declare that it is one of the best such French films from the last twenty years. Johnny Hallyday and Jean Rochefort are marvelous together and there is a very special noirish atmosphere that Jean-Pierre Melville would have been proud to reproduce in one of his classic films. Kino Lorber's Blu-ray release is sourced from an old and mostly underwhelming master, but at the moment it offers the best presentation of the film that you can get. RECOMMENDED.