"I know," the teacher says when the man returns. The village hotel is closed for the winter. The teacher's elegant old house is unlocked ("I lost the key"). The man gets off the train in a dreary November in a French provincial town, and falls into conversation with the teacher, who is quietly receptive. I have seen "The Man on the Train" twice, will see it again, cannot find a flaw. "Were you a good teacher?" the robber asks the teacher, who replies: "Not one pupil molested in 30 years on the job." "Not bad," the robber says dryly. He allows them to talk with wit and irony. These films have nothing in common except the humor of paradox, and Leconte's love for his characters. His " Monsieur Hire" was about a meek little man who spies on a woman, who sees him spying, and boldly challenges him to make his move. His " Ridicule" was about an 18th century provincial who has an ecological scheme, and is told that the king favors those who can make him laugh. Pierre" was about a 19th century community on a Canadian fishing island that comes to love a man condemned to death. His " Girl on the Bridge" was about a sideshow knife-thrower. His "Hairdresser's Husband," which also starred Rochefort, was about a man who loved to watch women cut hair. Leconte is a director who makes very specific films, usually with an undertone of comedy, about characters who are one of a kind. In American terms, think of James Stewart and Johnny Cash. This casting would have a divine incongruity for a French audience. The robber is played by Johnny Hallyday, 59, a French rock legend, who wears a fringed black leather jacket and travels with three handguns in his valise. ![]() It tells you all you need to know that he was once cast to play Don Quixote. The teacher is played by Jean Rochefort, 73, tall, slender, courtly.
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