Train of Life

After Life is Beautiful and Jakob the Liar, here comes another attempt to view the horrors of the Holocaust through a mix of comedy and poignancy, and brother, they just keep getting worse. Having heard horrible rumors about doomed trains to death camps, an Eastern European Jewish village decides to make a run for it--before the Germans come calling--developing an elaborate plan to escape in a dilapidated train they've made over to look like a concentration camp transport. By taking a fairy tale tack, writer-director Radu Mihaileanu absolves himself of patching up a plague of gaping plot holes regarding the sketchy details of such a plan and focuses instead on heavy-handed irony, antiquated stock characters (a village idiot?!?) and elementary, low-brow farce. Not a necessary purchase. (R. Blackwelder)[DVD/Blu-ray Review—Oct. 9, 2012—Olive, 103 min., in French w/English subtitles, R, DVD: $24.95, Blu-ray: $29.95—Making its first appearance on DVD and Blu-ray, 1999's Train of Life sports a good transfer and DTS-HD 2.0 audio, but no special features. Bottom line: a barebones Blu-ray release of a disappointing film.]