Train of Life (Trenul Vieții)

The village fool of a small Jewish community warns his townsfolk that the Nazis are coming and suggests that they build a train so they can escape by deporting themselves. Some villagers are chosen to act as the Germans who will transport the rest to a concentration camp when in fact they are heading to Palestine via Russia. Often compared to Life is Beautiful as they’re both essentially comedies with a Holocaust touch, Romanian-born Mihăileanu’s second feature is a subversively entertaining fable that succeeds in creating a story in which optimism and fantasy coexist with dark reality, complete with the most provocative yet reverent ending. A Sundance Audience Award winner.

Cinematography: Yorgos Arvanitis, Laurent Dailland
Original music by: Goran Bregovic
Cast: Marie Jose Nat, Rufus, Clement Harari, Lionel Abelanski, Agathe de la Fontaine, Bruno Abraham-Kremer
Production: Noé Productions (Paris), Raphaël Films (Saint-Denis)

In French and German with English subtitles