Black And White 1964 Film: The Train

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It was as I sat watching the black and white 1964 film, The Train, I realized that with today’s advanced special effects and technicolor, I was spoiled. Enormous amount of footage in films today is saturated with the latest special effects and at times the storyline is lost in all the latest and greatest marvels the film industry has to offer. The manner in which the film was directed by John Frankenheimer elicited an intensity to the drama and provided a grit and substance that can only be found in a black and white film. The film begins as the Allied forces at the end of World War II are approaching Paris and a German Colonel Von Waldheim, played by Paul Scofield, is formulating a plan in which to ship a collection of paintings he has accumulated during the war, to Germany. It is as the Nazis …show more content…

The bravery and fortitude of the railway workers becomes an inspiration and depiction of those who resisted Germany conquest The protagonist to Waldheim’s antagonist within this film, Labiche is a French railway inspector portrayed by Burt Lancaster, whose only concern is the pursuit of a German free France. The film amidst the air raids and plots is reminiscent of many spy films we watch today, without being dependent upon special effects. As I watched, I had to wonder at the manner in which action shots, such as actors jumping from moving trains, were completed. Today, with current technology, a predominant amount of the action scenes are created digitally, with green screens. It is with a knowledge of the dependency of actions films on special effects, that I gained a profound respect for this particular film. The action scenes with trains colliding, derailments and military conflicts were capable of eliciting a stark drama in black and white magnificently enabling the sense of true to life

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