👀 A flight of fantasy…on a train

#9 | A ride on the Train of Life

There is one question that everyone has asked or at least thought of once in their lifetimes – “What if?” Wishful thinking is woven into the very fabric of our being, and why time travel remains a fascinating plot for fiction.

The fiction-junkie in me loves stories of alternate history, especially when you get to experience what it would be like to change things from the harsh realities of life to something better or, say, lighthearted – farce cinema.

So after watching the two masterpieces on the holocaust – Life is Beautiful and Schindler’s List, I also watched a French film – Train of Life. It’s a horror show with a sweet coat of comedy. At the same time, an oddball assemblage and one of the most shocking, affecting Holocaust films I have seen.

It’s set in a small Jewish village in Central Europe and creates an alternate reality by re-enacting the classic story of Noah’s Ark.

Both stories occur in a small Jewish community about to be hit by impending doom. Noah’s efforts are directed at staying afloat through a forty-day flood. Shlomo and his village are in danger of a different kind – being captured and sent off to concentration camps. Among his peers, Noah was laughed at when he first talked about the flood and the solution. Shlomo is also a village idiot who everyone thinks has nothing but crazy ideas – but he’s the one who discovers the Nazis are coming and offers a solution.

Now, I can go on and on about the film and how it made me feel, but I’d like you to experience it yourself – an odyssey of survival, if you will, with Shlomo and his village.

If it has the same profound impact on you, write to me and tell me?

Yours,
Nikita