Next Stop, Analysis: The Contradictory Trains of Cinema 

Good lord... I feel - Sometimes it feels like I go into these dreary pauses in my life where I just fill it with reaction videos and work, and then I watch something like this I get chills and my brain feels alive again and I want to think and I want to perceive and interpret. I don't know how long this will last, but thanks for awakening it in me again. It's one of those strange feelings, which I seem to never remember having unless I am feeling it. This was beautifully made. Well done, and again - thank you.

I don’t get why people like you with such great content have so few subscribers and views .

TRAAAAAAINS

I literally got a whole two minutes into this before realising I am SITTING ON A TRAIN

On the subject of trains AS cinema, there is a subway tunnel in New York City that actually takes advantage of the subway's speed to create a persistence-of-vision illusion where, as the train flies past, there is a little abstract animation that plays in front of you. If we used a projector as a metaphor, the train is the feed and motor and the film strip is slats in the wall in front of a mural illuminated by lights.

So, an interesting use of trains was in Zootopia. The first use of trains has Judy coming into the city. It's beautiful, it's huge, it's her dream come true. It gives us somewhat of a false vision of the city, being that it does not let us see where the city falls short of Judy's hopes. Later, we see another short scene where a mom pulls her child away from a tiger; a small instance that does tell us about the bigger picture. The deep, cruel bigotry that only took a few news reports to rear it's head. I don't know how it fits into your thesis, but it's very interesting how trains are used in the movie.

This was really awesome! Loved the editing! And what a great selection of films :)

Brilliant video as always, Trains are also rhythmic, unlike a quiet drive or a night time wander where all the sound can become muted, trains are always noisy, but it's a constant noise which you sometimes forget about, the perfect background noise for a story of action, tension or emptiness.

_all we had to do.........was follow the damn..._

Never before have I seen a video essay that immediately and totally got my attention as fast as this

I never realised how many awesome films and shows were so train-centric! Brilliant video!

holy crap, now i can't stop thinking about the various half-life trains... excellent vid!

You and ‘Pause and Select’ are my favorite youtubers, and you are so terribly, terribly underrated

Now i look back at every train scene i´ve ever seen and can´t help but think of an allegorical meaning to it. Westworld, polar express, strangers on a train, even dunkirk

I am so grateful for these videos. They make me think and leave me with a sense of knowing cinema little better but also aware that I know very little. I think your channel has opened a fascination in me for film. thank you so much for everything you do

Trains!!! 🛤 My grandpa was a railroad worker and the local union rep. I never met him, just heard stories growing up. Idk, not gonna get into it too much or we'll be here all day lol, but this really gave explanation and structure to a lot of the abstract affection I've had for trains since I was a kid. I always feel like I've left your videos with a little bit more clarity than I came in with. Thank you! 🧡

I clicked on this video thinking, “Trains. Okayy.🤷🏽‍♀️” But I was happily surprised and interested, great work! I admired how you focused on a broad topic and pinpointed the specific themes & meanings!

What an incredible essay about a subject I've never even thought about.

The EDITING!!!! Bravo!!!!!

As a fan of your work and a somewhat of a train nerd I loved this!

I see you from Venezuela and I wish had more english speakers friends to show them your amazing videos. What a great content you have

I found your channel when I was looking into House of Leaves and I have to say that all of your videos are of such superb quality that I am consistently blown away by them. I watch a lot of video essay channels and I think yours is by far the best - and thats comparing to channels like Just Write, Nerdwriter, Storytellers, Real Dimensional Pictures, etc. Your voice is incredibly soothing, clear and concise, and your editing is always on point. I love your work and I hope 2019 is a great year for you and you get lots of subscribers and more attention, because it is rightly deserved! Another great and thought provoking video, as always.

Prop, backdrop, filming location, even a star performer alongside the other actors, trains and film have been intertwined since the beginning of the medium.

Just found your channel and am wildly impressed! You manage to convey your love for what you are doing apart from the actual task. I'm a bit inspired to take my love of cinema more seriously than I have in the past. I would love to see your thoughts on Jodorowsky's the holy mountain.

seriously now, this is getting spooky, I have a real soft spot for any film featuring trains and suddenly this drops in my subscription feed. Great stuff.

You did well in this video, Grace. Great clips and analysis! One small note: you missed the opportunity to reference Kieślowski's BLIND CHANCE (1987), the original film of multiple narratives via catching or missing a train that inspired both SLIDING DOORS and MR. NOBODY. :)

Thanks for putting the film's name and year in the subtitles, I appreciate the extra work.

Just realized that my favorite film of all time, Unbreakable, is part of a trilogy named after a train.

Oh my gosh, Grace, this has to be my favorite of all your essays so far! So insightful and thought-provoking. And damn, what a great collection of train clips. That opening montage gave me chills. I love thinking about the train as "the mechanical double of the cinematic apparatus." To think that so many train scenes were filmed on stationary sets with rear-projection screens only deepens that idea. Amazing work as always! Can't wait to see what you come out with in the new year!

Superbly written as usual.

Really good video again. Your personality is starting to show too now, on top of the great editing, strong research and thoughtful ideas

I love your channel. It makes me look at things in a different way, for example I always thought that "staying in the rails" meant to be going in the right direction and "getting out of them" represented a wrong choice or an unsure outcome.

Ozu's Late Summer has a great plot thread (and then a visual bit) about a toy train track (versus a loaf of bread) that comments on technological advancement in post-war Japan. And as usual, fantastic work, Grace.

Another lovely essay! I look forward to more of your work. ^^

Fantastic video! So here for this content

This is dope. What a great idea for an essay

As always you’re mind blowingly brilliant, I won’t rest till you have more subscribers than the nerdwriter (but slightly disappointed you didn’t include Paddington 2, as it is the best film ever made)

Thorough consideration of this subject is exactly what Zelda: Spirit Tracks was missing.

i'm absolutely floored by the editing! this must've taken ages, damn.

I really love stand by me. I seen this when I was 11 since 2017.

Great video as always, one of the best channels on here! Lovely to see some Ivor Cutler as well.

Loved this Grace!

Te amo, me encantan tus vídeos, tus reflexiones y tu voz 🌸💕 Siempre reflexionas sobre cosas que me ayudan a avanzar en mi vida. Cuestionas cosas que tienen una mirada fresca sobre tópicos que en mi cabeza existían, pero estaban sueltos, desarticulados. Haré un viaje pronto, uno de autoexilio, y tener claridad en un viaje asi, de sanación, me da energía para seguir y no tener miedo. Gracias.

I'll need to share this with my brother. He likes trains.

Nice inclusion of the 'Hunnybee' music video

Amazing as always

This is really excellent, and I'm waiting for the moment when you'll have enough subscribers so that I can believe in Justice again. Please keep on doing such amazing work.

An interesting contradiction regarding trains in film. The characters are in an enclosed, claustrophobic space with the ability to travel two ways- front and back- while the train itself is restricted to the track, and yet the train gives freedom of long distance travel taking that character far away from where they were. Look at Wes Anderson’s The Darjeeling Limited; the brothers are in a cramped caboose leading to conflict and tension, yet the train is taking them away from the bustling city to the quieter more relaxing rural areas. On a tangential note, why hasn’t the metaphor of the phallic train been developed in modern cinema? When was the last time you saw a train go through a tunnel in a move denoting you know what? We need more of that ;).

Great work.

I wonder what it means that Superman is "More powerful than a locomotive"

Could've mentioned Blind Chance (1987) from which Sliding Doors took it's concept.

Amazing work!

superb content!

YT recs has done it again

I thought train for busan was just a silly film, but the way you picked out the theme of economy and social uniformity made me want to go back and watch films like those I once found "useless"

Well done!

Enlightening as ever.

such a great video! way cool to see clips from triplets of bellville

Over the garden wall also uses a train to represent death. Anyway, great video as always, keep it up ^u^

Some trains that could have been amazing in this video: - My Winnipeg by Maddin as the ultimate limbo - Godard's trains in The Book of Images - James Banning and trains Cool video nonetheless

Gosh I love your videos so so so so so much!!!!! You should do a video on Evangelion!! I feel as though you would really like its story and plot devices!

As great as this video is, sad there was no room for an asdf movie 'I like trains' reference :p

another addition to the zombies + trains list: kabaneri of the iron fortress. the plot isn’t that strong imo but rich characters and complex themes.

WSGAT and zombies, name a better duo, I'll wait

I love the use of The Triplets of Belleville. I always wanted to do a music video of it to Counting Bodies Like Sheep to the Rhythm of the War Drums by A Perfect Circle.

really shoulda included the train scene(s) in evangelion

X-C-Learnt

I wrote an essay at the end of an 12 year prison sentence. My warden was a gentle matriarch that coaxed out a burgeoning need for logos and creativity. At the time I was fascinated by the romance of trains. And the thought of watching a lover take one away from my toxic need for them, it consumed me. Later, I would realize that the ones that love you so deeply and fully in the moment, usually have a husband fighting the Nazis. And that husband is a banker. In summation: _There is nothing more satisfying to me than having a drink on a train._

and there was me thinking RU-vid was just alt-right cat videos.

Would love to see a Trains in Westerns video! :D

M A G N I F I C E N T

Any chance for a "Hotline Miami" dilogy analysis?

What is the movie at 4:35?

I like trains.

8:11 - What film is this from? I have a picture of that train crash and always wondered where it came from. Love your vids btw.

You forgot "The Polar Express"! :)

What's the name of the cartoon with the barking dog please?

I fucking love how this relates to One piece

all trains matter

Was the intro Dunkey?

I wish I have What's so great about that every day :v

needs more ozu. otherwise perfect.