Subway

Le Subway n'est certes pas un chef-d'œuvre, mais c'est un film qui, après l'avoir regardé, vous donne envie de vous foutre du système et de vous promener dans le métro parisien, de jouer avec Jean Reno et son groupe excentrique, et de tomber amoureux de Isabelle Adjani. Une variation déjantée de Besson sur l'ode à l'indépendance à la manière de Jarmusch, qui ne peut pas vous épater, mais qui vous laisse certainement une agréable atmosphère détendue et l'envie de vivre même dans les tempêtes les plus violentes. (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)