Subway

Approach 1985's SUBWAY purely as an exercise in style and you'll do just fine.  Director Luc Besson has fashioned some more coherent narratives in his career but this one, his second, isn't one of them.  I was quite baffled by the plot (or lack thereof) here.  And this is one of those films where by the conclusion, the characters hardly seem to care any more than the screenwriters. SUBWAY ends on such an abrupt and chaotic note that I just kinda sighed.

But honestly I was never engaged with the story or its characters.  Everything had potential interest. We first meet Fred (Christopher Lambert) as he's piloting a vehicle at top speed through Paris streets, pursued by some guys we presume are gangsters.  Besson stages an exciting chase that reminds us that once upon a time car chases where shot with real cars and stunt work. Fred crashes the car and flees to the bowels of the Metro, an entire city unto itself.  One that we learn even has "bad neighborhoods." We also learn Fred dynamited a safe in the home of some dangerous bigwig and escaped with sensitive documents. The big wig's bored wife Helena (Isabelle Adjani) joins in the pursuit (which also includes a Police Commisioner and Station Master), and though she's usually quite rude to him it's clear she is attracted.  Maybe more to his lifestyle of freedom than Fred's cool '80s hair.

Under the Metro we meet an assortment of oddballs like "The Roller" (Jean-Hughes Anglade), a thief on skates. "The Florist" (Richard Bohringer), an obnoxious guy selling arrangements, and "The Drummer" (Jean Reno, in one of his several appearances in a Besson movie), who bangs his sticks on every available surface.  They're colorful but uninteresting.  So goes the plot, which does take some intriguing detours (including a slow dance set to Rickie Lee Jones' "A Lucky Guy"), but far too many, leaving the story a disjointed afterthought.  I never cared.  The visuals, beautifully realized by Carlo Varini, remain arresting, and the director orchestrates some High Style (rarely have subway trains been so cinematic), but it can only carry the movie so far.  The style may be the substance here but it just fizzles so early.

The 1980s aesthetic is strong and appealing, as is the ultracool scoring by Eric Serra, who plays Enrico, the bassist.  I forgot to mention that Fred is trying to form a band.  This plot thread ultimately gets far more mileage than the hot pursuit or the romance.  Yes, I guess SUBWAY is an hour and forty five minute music video.