Like road movies, train movies are about the journey and not the destination. The air of mystery permeates the train compartments. The closed quarters make for a perfect locked room mystery setting. The passengers are never who they appear to be.
The mystery in "The Darjeeling Limited" is Francis' undisclosed real purpose for the trip with his brothers. Mysterious identities abound in "Shanghai Express." Yasmina Reza creates suspense as the soliloquies roll on between two passengers sitting across from each other. The mystery is whether they will eventually speak to each other. Soliloquies stall the remake of the ne plus ultra of mystery trains, "Murder on the Orient Express."
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The Darjeeling Limited
(2007, dir. Wes Anderson)
Brothers travel through
India to shed baggages -
Amid blues, yellows.
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Shanghai Express
(1932, dir. Josef von Sternberg)
"Grand Hotel" on wheels.
Dietrich, butterfly-lit, with
Wong holding her own.
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The Unexpected Man (1995)
by Yasmina Reza
Soliloquies soon
Before connection between
Strangers on a train.
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Murder on the Orient Express
(2017, dir. Kenneth Branagh)
Promising journey
Derailed by Branagh's Poirot
Monologues on screen
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