''Those Who Love Me Can Take the Train'' (french: Ceux qui m'aiment prendront le train) is a

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

French

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Patrice Chéreau Patrice Chéreau (; 2 November 1944 – 7 October 2013) was a French opera and theatre director, filmmaker, actor and producer. In France he is best known for his work for the theatre, internationally for his films '' La Reine Margot'' and ...

and written by Chéreau,

Danièle Thompson Danièle Thompson (born 3 January 1942) is a Monegasque film director and screenwriter. Thompson is the daughter of film director Gérard Oury, and actress Jacqueline Roman. She has written screenplays for a number of highly successful films ...

and

Pierre Trividic Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...

. It stars

Pascal Greggory Pascal Greggory (born 8 September 1954) is a French people, French actor. Personal life Greggory is openly gay. He had long-term relationships with Patrice Chéreau and François-Marie Banier. Filmography * ''Les Sœurs Brontë'' (1979) by Andr ...

Vincent Perez Vincent Perez (born 10 June 1964) is a Swiss actor, director and photographer. He played the title character, Ashe Corven, in '' The Crow: City of Angels'', and starred in ''Queen of the Damned'', playing Marius de Romanus. Some of his films in ...

Charles Berling Charles Berling (born 30 April 1958) is a French actor, director and screenwriter. Life and career Charles Berling, son of a navy doctor, is also the nephew of the literary critic Raymond Picard. His mother, Nadia, "only daughter of (French) se ...

and

Dominique Blanc Dominique Blanc (born 25 April 1956) is a French actress. She is known for her roles in the films '' May Fools'' (1990), '' Indochine'' (1992), '' La Reine Margot'' (1994), ''Those Who Love Me Can Take the Train'' (1998), and '' The Other One'' ...

Plot

The film follows the friends of a recently deceased minor painter Jean-Baptiste Emmerich as they take a train from Paris to Limoges, where he is to be buried, attend his funeral, then gather at the home of his twin brother, Lucien. The mourners include François, who spends the journey listening to a series of taped conversations with the painter; Jean-Marie and Claire, a couple whose marriage has broken down; Emmerich's former lover Lucie; Louis, a close friend of François, and Bruno a young man with whom he has fallen in love. As the train heads south, the travellers watch the car carrying Emmerich's coffin being driven recklessly alongside the train by their friend Thierry. At the funeral Jean-Marie makes a speech condemning family life, and declares, to Claire's anger, that he will never become a father. At the gathering after the funeral the guests argue about which of them was closest to Emmerich. Claire discovers that a young woman present, Viviane, was actually Emmerich's son Frédéric, who has become a woman.

Background and filming

The inspiration for the film, and its title, came from a request made by the documentary film-maker

François Reichenbach François Reichenbach (3 July 1921 – 2 February 1993) was a French film director, cinematographer producer and screenwriter. He directed 40 films between 1954 and 1993. Early life François Reichenbach was born in 1921 in Neuilly-su ...

to those attending his funeral. The sequences on the train were filmed over 14 days in two carriages on trains running between Paris and

Mulhouse Mulhouse (; Alsatian language, Alsatian: or , ; ; meaning ''Mill (grinding), mill house'') is a city of the Haut-Rhin Departments of France, department, in the Grand Est Regions of France, region, eastern France, close to the France–Switzerl ...

. Interviewed in ''The Guardian'', Patrice Chereau said "You cannot really fabricate the movement of a train in a studio - the actors and the camera moving at the same time. We needed to have the real energy of that journey". Reviewing the film for ''

Sight & Sound ''Sight and Sound'' (also spelled ''Sight & Sound'') is a British monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute (BFI). It conducts the well-known, once-a-decade ''Sight and Sound'' Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time, ongoing ...

'', Chris Darke said "the journey to Limoges is a triumph both of exposition and choreography.....Éric Gautier's use of handheld 'Scope cinematography gives the feeling of both buffeting movement and swooping detail."

Cast

as François *

Valeria Bruni Tedeschi Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, also written Bruni-Tedeschi (; born 16 November 1964), is an Italian-French actress, screenwriter and film director. Her 2013 film, ''A Castle in Italy,'' was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. ...

as Claire (as Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi) *

as Jean-Marie *

Jean-Louis Trintignant Jean-Louis Xavier Trintignant (; 11 December 1930 – 17 June 2022) was a French actor. He made his theatrical debut in 1951, and went on to be regarded as one of the best French dramatic actors of the post-war era. He starred in many classic fi ...

– Lucien Emmerich / Jean-Baptiste Emmerich *

Bruno Todeschini Bruno Todeschini (born 19 September 1962) is a Franco-Swiss actor. Life and career Todeschini studied at L'école supérieure d'art dramatique in Genève and after graduating in 1986, he joined the Théâtre Nanterre-Amandiers, directed by Pat ...

as Louis * Sylvain Jacques as Bruno *

as Viviane *

Roschdy Zem Roschdy Zem (born 27 September 1965) is a French actor and filmmaker of Moroccan descent. He shared the award for Best Actor for his role in the film '' Days of Glory'' at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. Career Versatile and determined to not ...

as Thierry *

as Catherine *

Delphine Schiltz Delphine may refer to: * Delphine (given name), list of people with the feminine given name * ''Delphine'' (novel), an 1802 novel by Germaine de Staël * ''Delphine'' (1931 film), a 1931 French film directed by Roger Capellani * ''Delphine'' ( ...

as Elodie *

Nathan Kogen Nathan or Natan may refer to: People *Nathan (given name), including a list of people and characters with this name *Nathan (surname) *Nathan (prophet), a person in the Hebrew Bible * Nathan (son of David), biblical figure, son of King David an ...

as Sami (as Nathan Cogan) *

Marie Daëms Marie Daëms (1928–2016) was a French stage actor, stage, film actress, film and television actress. Hayward & Vincendeau p.127 After studying at the Lycée Jules-Ferry (Paris), Lycée Jules-Ferry in Paris, Daëms made her stage debut in 1947 an ...

as Lucie *

Chantal Neuwirth Chantal Neuwirth (born 1948) is a French actress, who also played on theatre. Theater Filmography References External links * {{DEFAULTSORT:Neuwirth, Chantal 1948 births Living people French stage actresses French film actresses Fren ...

as Geneviève *

Thierry de Peretti Thierry is a French male given name, derived from the Germanic "Theodoric". It is the cognate of German " Dietrich" and " Dieter", English Terry, Derek and Derrick, and of various forms in other European languages. It is also a surname. People ...

as Dominique *

Olivier Gourmet Olivier Gourmet (born 22 July 1963) is a Belgian actor. Gourmet was born in Namur. He won the Best Actor award at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival for his role in '' Le Fils'' by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne. He also appeared in ''La Promesse'' ...

as Bernard

Awards and nominations

British Independent Film Awards The British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) is an organisation that celebrates, supports and promotes British independent cinema and filmmaking talent in United Kingdom. Nominations for the annual awards ceremony are announced in early November, ...

(UK) **Nominated: Best Foreign Language Film *

1998 Cannes Film Festival The 51st Cannes Film Festival was held from 13 to 24 May 1998. American director, producer, screenwriter, and film historian Martin Scorsese was the Jury President. The Palme d'Or went to the Greek film '' Mia aioniotita kai mia mera'' by Theo A ...

(France) **Nominated: Golden Palm (Patrice Chéreau) * 24th César Awards (France) **Won: Best Actress – Supporting Role (Dominique Blanc) **Won: Best Cinematography (Eric Gautier) **Won: Best Director (Patrice Chéreau) **Nominated: Best Actor – Leading Role (Pascal Greggory) **Nominated: Best Actor – Supporting Role (Vincent Perez) **Nominated: Best Actor – Supporting Role (Jean-Louis Trintignant) **Nominated: Best Editing (François Gédigier) **Nominated: Best Film **Nominated: Best Production Design (Sylvain Chauvelot and Richard Peduzzi) **Nominated: Best Sound (Guillaume Sciama and Jean-Pierre Laforce) **Nominated: Best Writing (Patrice Chéreau, Danièle Thompson and Pierre Trividic) * Étoiles d'Or (France) **Won: Best Actor – Leading Role (Charles Berling) **Won: Best Director (Patrice Chéreau)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Those Who Love Me Can Take The Train 1990s French-language films French LGBT-related films Films whose director won the Best Director César Award Films featuring a Best Supporting Actress César Award-winning performance Films directed by Patrice Chéreau 1998 drama films Films about fictional painters Gay-related films French drama films 1998 LGBT-related films 1998 films LGBT-related drama films 1990s French films