Subway

Subway ist zwar kein Meisterwerk, es ist aber ein Film, nach dem man Lust hat, auf das ganze System zu pfeifen, nur so durch die Pariser U-Bahn zu bummeln, mit Jean Reno und seiner seltsamen Band zu spielen und sich in Isabelle Adjani zu verlieben. Eine verrückte Variation der Jarmusch-Ode an die Unabhängigkeit von Besson. Der Film ist nicht super toll, er sorgt aber für eine angenehme und entspannte Laune. Man hat Lust, auch in den größten Gewittern zu leben. (21.05.2002)

I remember squirming bitterly at Antal's Control, not because the film was in any way bad, but because the story was a lot like one I had been carrying in my head for a long time back then (only set in Prague's Congress Centre). And I didn't even know at the time that in 1985 Besson had made essentially the same thing, only with a protagonist who was a visual combination of me and Johnny Violent. Subway is a chaotic jumble of scenes and themes set in the underworld of the Paris subway with a real youthful edge that blocks anyone from trying to rationalize, classify, and generally just figure the film out. Besson wanted to be the protesting voice of youth, following in the footsteps of Godard and Truffaut, but instead he was simply a young calf spinning after skirts. This is what makes Subway such a pure, untamed, and unrestrained film with its own rare charm. (22.07.2021)