The Girl on the Train (La Fille du RER) (2009)

80% of critics liked it
(54 reviews)
38% of users liked it
(1,724 ratings)

In 2004, a grotesque and unseemly incident took the European press by storm: a young French woman came forward and claimed to have been attacked by black and Arab thugs who mistook her for a Jew. But after her story broke, no witnesses came forward to support her, and security cameras at the train… More In 2004, a grotesque and unseemly incident took the European press by storm: a young French woman came forward and claimed to have been attacked by black and Arab thugs who mistook her for a Jew. But after her story broke, no witnesses came forward to support her, and security cameras at the train station revealed no such attack; the woman later admitted that she had ripped her own clothes, drawn swastikas on her own stomach, and fabricated the entire story. With the drama Fille du RER, acclaimed French writer-director André Téchiné presents a thinly veiled fictionalization of the same events. Émilie Dequenne stars as Jeanne, an unemployed girl who lives with her mother (Catherine Deneuve) in a Parisian suburb and spends the majority of her free time rollerblading. She has little knowledge of -- or interest in -- history or politics, and remains withdrawn, insular, and sullen, keeping the majority of her thoughts and observations to herself. Circumstances change just a bit when Jeanne enters a live-in relationship with a beefy, thuggish wrestler boyfriend, Franck (Nicolas Duvauchelle), living in a dingy warehouse, but violence soon erupts between the two. Jeanne also becomes acquainted with an attorney-cum-ex-boyfriend of her mother's (Michel Blanc), whose involvement in Judaic causes and his politically committed family prompt even greater feelings of alienation and isolation in Jeanne. When Franck's involvement in criminal activities comes to light and the police intervene, Jeanne perversely reasons that she can only become tied to history by inventing a role for herself, and decides to fabricate said story about the train -- little realizing the calamitous consequences that it will engender. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 45 min.
Directed By: Andre Techine
Written By: Andre Techine, Odile Barski, Jean-Marie Besset
Genres: Art House & International, Drama

In Theaters: Jan 22, 2010 Wide
On DVD: May 18, 2010
Studio: Strand Releasing

Critic Reviews

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe
A movie whose blitheness doesn't know when to quit.
James Berardinelli, ReelViews
Although the main character's motivations remain largely a matter of conjecture, The Girl on the Train is a compelling piece of cinema.
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer
The Girl on the Train reverberates with a quiet, seductive power.
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
The movie seems likely to be about anti-Semitism, but that's more the occasion than the subject.
Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post
It's a well-acted, but frustratingly inconclusive exercise.
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle
This is Téchiné's gift -- not just detail, but telling detail; and not just slices of life, but slices as rich as a cassata cake.
Allan Hunter, Daily Express
Understated but involving, The Girl On The Train tells a very personal and specific story that resonates with wider insight into the state of modern France.
Alistair Harkness, Scotsman
It's an interesting approach, avoiding didactic hand-wringing in favour of elliptical character drama...
Adam Woodward, Little White Lies
André Téchiné's spellbinding storytelling glosses over the issue somewhat, but never deplorably so.
Tim Robey, Daily Telegraph
A rare disappointment from André Téchiné...
Nigel Andrews, Financial Times
The film doesn't quite solve the puzzle -- why the girl did it -- but it doodles intriguing equations and theories on the blackboard.
Sloan Freer, Radio Times
The film's complex political and social themes are frustratingly simplified, reducing events to bare-bones implausibility and making empathy hard despite the impressively subtle performances.
David Jenkins, Time Out
The film's big strength is its unwillingness to dish out easy answers
Jeff Vice, Deseret News, Salt Lake City
The French-made drama is too aloof and measured, even when things should get more heated and emotional.
Kam Williams, Sly Fox
How do you say Tawana Brawley en Francais?
Richard Knight, Windy City Times
Techine once again displays a masterful control ofall aspects of his movie, a typically rich character study.
Shawn Levy, Oregonian
Émilie Dequenne projects little in the lead; neither her passion nor her foolhardy decision to draw attention by claiming the mantle of victimhood convinces.
Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Although this stylish and ominously paced vehicle starts with a full itinerary, it never makes a vital connection.
Tim Brayton, Antagony & Ecstasy
A character study par excellence, that simmers and lingers and reveals itself only by inches.
Peter Keough, Boston Phoenix
Perhaps the most prominent characters in the film are the trains themselves. They keep roaring past and taking the camera into dark tunnels, a ubiquitous, vaguely malignant presence.

Read all 21 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Walter M

In "The Girl on the Train," Jeanne(Emilie Dequenne), a feckless young woman, spends he days rollerblading in Paris when she is approached by Franck(Nicolas Duvauchelle), an amateur wrestler and the kind of man her mother Louise(Catherine Deneuve) would warn her about. She… More
In "The Girl on the Train," Jeanne(Emilie Dequenne), a feckless young woman, spends he days rollerblading in Paris when she is approached by Franck(Nicolas Duvauchelle), an amateur wrestler and the kind of man her mother Louise(Catherine Deneuve) would warn her about. She initially rebuffs him but becomes more attracted to him the longer she knows him. In reality, she is supposed to be going on job interviews and actually does succeed in getting one, but only because Louise admits once knowing Samuel(Michel Blanc), now a famous attorney, whose former daughter-in-law Judith(Ronit Elkabetz) interviews Jeanne and fails to be impressed. Since the young lovers are flat broke, that forces Franck to take a job for him and Jeanne to be caretakers at a shady electronics company. Inspired by true events, "The Girl on the Train" is a decidedly unsettling(even before the central incident), if slightly forced, movie. Director Andre Techine depicts a troubled world where hate crimes are plentiful and nobody can hear themselves think due to the trains going by and a soundtrack that starts out with a martial beat before including everything from recent songs to pop standards to classics. The characters are at undecided places in their lives, particularly the self-absorbed Jeanne, and do not take full responsibility for their own situations. For example, Louise wonders what her life would have been like if she had married Samuel when she had the chance. Ironically, Samuel is the one character who has everything together which might be because of his being so successful and wealthy.(Since he has nothing to prove, especially about who he is, he does not even have any business cards printed up.) This is a quality his grandson Nathan(Jeremy Quaegebeur) may have inherited, as he is confident beyond his years, almost scarily so.
Hal M

Well-intended psychodrama for the hyper PC French nation. I can't criticize it for that. "Real" French versus Jews versus the Others.... why can't we all live together? Personally I just can't get that exercised over it. If it was set somewhere more… More
Well-intended psychodrama for the hyper PC French nation. I can't criticize it for that. "Real" French versus Jews versus the Others.... why can't we all live together? Personally I just can't get that exercised over it. If it was set somewhere more hypothetical, like Mars, I'd say it's not a very good script at all. The acting? The young man is quite good--I'd like to see more of him. Some critics are praising the young woman but no...she does nothing but pose for the camera... Where's the acting"? Catherine Deneuvre puts in about her thousandth film appearance as Madame d' France. All she ever has to do is change the spoken lines, then pick up the paycheck. Didn't she even wear the same MAKEUP last time? Some of the cinematography is quite good. As for the musical score...ummm...was there one?