The bell rings signaling the end of 7th period. But not a soul in the class moves. The late bell rings and still everyone remains in their seats, staring directly at the screen, completely engrossed in the movie. That is the feeling I had as I watched the end of Runaway Train, a truly incredible film.
As I walked into to AP Poli Sci more than 8 minutes late and Ms. Kirschbaum told us "that we would never be late because of Mr. Bennett," I wondered about the battle that would almost certainly ensue later on that day about 8 of her students being late to class. I assume that there will be quite an interesting story about this in the future.
However, now to the important part. The film review and all of the complex, interconnected aspects of this film. As Mr. Bennett said earlier, it was difficult to look through all of the action and other things going on and see what was going on behind the scenes, without missing the plot itself. In my opinion, the film centered around a very interesting concept, and that the film as a whole was an allegory for the death of Jesus, and a story of human sacrifice.
This point I think was made clear by the last shot of the film where Manny stands on top of the train with arms 0utstretched like Jesus, lay on the cross. Also, it is similar to the story of Jesus and his death, in the fact that Manny could have saved himself and chose not to and sacrifice himself to save everyone else (Buck and Sara) and to rid the world of evil in the world, or at least in their world (Warden Ranken.)
Looking back on many other interesting allusions to the Bible and Jesus' death in relation to this story, in the early scene where the fight ensues during the boxing match. When Manny gets into a fight with one of the other prisoners and his hand is stabbed, it is a similar allusion to Jesus' skin being pierced when he is imprisoned.
Finally, in the last scene of the movie, when the Runaway Train with Manny and Ranken is disappearing, Konchalovsky chooses to show shots of different prisoners and Buck to show that it was a sacrifice for all of the prisoners. They were all freed from the evilness of Ranken. Therefore, in similarity to the story of Jesus' death, Manny's redemption is similar, which seems to be an anti-existenial message, so it is possible that I am wrong.
Interestingly enough, in the characters of Joe Buck and Manny, each ended up sacrificing themselves for another, although throughout the movie, and throughout their lives they may not have been the most reputable and moral characters. That is just an observation.
There will be more thoughts about other elements of this film shortly but I don't want to make one post that is too long to read but upcoming posts will focus on: the Control Room and Sara, among other things. These should be expected in the upcoming days.
However, I was looking up different things about Jon Voight and I found a very interesting interview on Boxofficemojo.com, a very good site, that was done last year. It discussed Midnight Cowboy, Runaway Train, and Catch-22, among many other films, although it focused on Midnight Cowboy. I found it enlightening and it was very interesting to read his own thoughts on these films and I have included the link on the bottom of the post. I hope you enjoy the interview.
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/features/?id=2381&pagenum=all&p=.htm
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i thought his arms were all outstretched because he was embracing life or something kind of haha
ReplyDeletei also didn't think the shots of the prisoners were there to show how manny "sacrificed" for them. it was showing that they weren't free. that they were just faces, just dehumanized from being "prisoners" and being labelled as "bad" people. well i mean the girl that was supposed to be all sensitve and crap was saying "kill him" if i remember correctly, what a good person she was...
Well, you hit a home run on this one, old friend. The references to Christ are certainly there, and I was hoping the class would see them. In fact, the film fits into a pattern known as a "demonic architype" wherein a group of lost souls is saved from a hellish existence by a savior, who must die in order that they live. Obviously, Christ is the best example, but there are others from literature. Perhaps you've read or seen "One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest", which is another example, and a story that is similar in many ways to Runaway Train.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to your next post. This one was excellent.
You know, over the years, when that film ends, the class often just sits in a weird silence that I have interpreted as a state of awe. I know that it effected me very deeply this time. It has lost nothing after 24 years and dozens of viewings. In fact, if anything, it has improved.
Reema is correct about the girl, who is supposed to be so good shouting "kill him" and then biting his hand, like a dog. She's incorrect about the prisoners being dehumanized at that point. They are saved by Manny from Ranken. The smile on Jonah's face shows that best. As for Manny embracing life, that is true also, but the references to Christ are hard to ignore.
ReplyDeleteYea Jimmy, walking out after that ending and into Poli Sci was one of the weirdest feelings of my life. I was thinking about the movie all through 8th period.
ReplyDeleteI really agree with your entire post. I think the allusions to Christ at the end are just so beautiful and thought provoking. I hadn't even thought about how Manny getting stabbed in the hand is reminiscent of Christ and now it seems so perfect I'm sort of mad at myself for missing it. Kudos for being so observant.
About the girl yelling "kill him!", I thought the point of that was to show how animalistic we all are inside. I didn't think she was meant to be a "bad" character at all, and she clearly showed compassion and empathy in certain parts. It's not that she's not a good person, it's simply that she's human, and not quite so different from Manny as she would like to believe. Just my opinion about that.
I agree with you, I feel like u hit the main points very well. I think we should watch this movie twice, I think its that good, we should analyze it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Ilyas, I think that for movies like this one we should have an uninterrupted viewing and then another one where we stop it and look at certain scenes.
ReplyDeleteThat could be a good idea. There was so much to see, that it might be a very good idea to watch parts of it again because we barely stopped the film at all, as we did with the other movies. I would not be adverse to watching it a 2nd time, either on my own or in class.
ReplyDeleteI am sorry to disagree with, i guess with everyone who has expressed their opinion on this blog. I thought the acting was melodramatic and the many of the scenes were outdated, especially the ones in the control room. On top of that, the message of the film wasn't strong enough for me; I never really got emotionally involved in the film which I feel is necessary for in a great movie.
ReplyDeleteAhh did somebody order a buzzkill? Haha just kidding Sanbeg.
ReplyDeleteJimmy, all of your points were brilliant, especially the religious allegories. I like to think that if I thought hard enough I'd be able to come up with that stuff myself, but you saved me the trouble. Thanks buddy =P.
Ultimately, all film analysis is subjective. years ago I would have taken Sanbeg over the coals for not liking this one, but I'm since come to learn that all beauty is in the eye of the beholder. However, his comment about the control room scenes being "outdated" don't really mean much. The criticism of the acting is valid. The supporting roles were not acted well, and the two main characters did over-act, but I feel that it is consistent with the overall message of the film. Over the top acting for an over the top theme.
ReplyDelete