A man is travelling on a long haul express train journey from Amsterdam to Paris. He shares his sleeper compartment with another man who he engages in conversation. He learns that the man is a cannibal who intends to kill and eat him. The man is unsure of where his life is going and begins to be swayed by the cannibal's assertions that being eaten would give his life meaning and purpose. However - how long can the man stall for, with questions on the finer points of eating someone?
The blurb at the Kinoforum festival described this as `outrageously funny' or words to that effect. I really had to wonder if they had seen the same film as me as I didn't raise a smile once. What the film did do was have me feeling tense, waiting for something that was being built to. The film builds a good sense of fear - almost that the inevitable will happen and it is only a matter of when. What makes this worse is that the cannibal is very convincing and we can see the man being sucked in as he is tired and prone to suggestion.
Why the film uses animation is beyond me - it really doesn't add very much to the film. The atmosphere is created by a very good narration by Maloney and by good direction. The animation contributes to the sleep deprived state of the man but not much beyond that. The film builds quite well to a disturbing climax but you really need to avoid the plot holes and weaknesses to enjoy it. For example it is only hinted that something deep in the man's soul keeps him in the same carriage but we never get close enough to see nay justification for this belief.
Overall though this is worth a look. It is quite imaginative and the narrator brings it to life. The direction is good and it feels quite edgy despite a lack of expansion. I may try to find the source material that this was based on as I suspect it is longer than this short and offers more material for thought.
