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Message: <br /><br /> If you are having trouble reading this email, you may view this article online at: http://www.jweekly.com/57369/full/57369/pains-trains-and-misplaced-ideals-french-film-revisits-a-girls-derailed-ant/ <br /><br /> <b>Pains, trains and misplaced ideals: French film revisits a girl’s derailed anti-Semitic claim</b> <br /> Friday, March 12, 2010 | by michael fox <br /><br /><p>If those who forget history are doomed to repeat it, what fate awaits those who don’t know (or understand) the past? And won’t their ignorance influence what happens to the rest of us, as well?</p> <p>As you might have guessed, I’m alluding to the Holocaust, which makes a cameo appearance at a pivotal juncture in the fascinatingly opaque French character study “The Girl On the Train.”</p> <p>André Téchiné’s latest unflinching exploration of the morals and attitudes of his country’s young people, which screened last month in the East Bay International Jewish Film Festival, opens March 19 in the Bay Area.</p> <p> <div class="capDivLeft" style="width: 360px;"><img alt="Agirl***" class="left" height="241" src="http://www.jweekly.com/images/uploads/y_photos_2010/zo03_12_10/Agirl***.jpg" title="Jeanne (Émilie Dequenne) is a 20-year-old who makes a bad decision in “The Girl on the Train.” photo/courtesy of strand releasing" width="360" /> <div class="caption">Jeanne (Émilie Dequenne) is a 20-year-old who makes a bad decision in “The Girl on the Train.” photo/courtesy of strand releasing</div> </div> “The Girl On the Train” was inspired by a notorious 2004 incident in which a young woman concocted a tale about Arab and black teenagers attacking her for being Jewish (which she wasn’t). The film is far more interested, though, in what might have led her to make such inflammatory accusations than in the case’s sensationalistic elements.</p> <p>Jeanne (Émilie Dequenne) is a cheerfully embryonic (read: superficial) 20-year-old suburbanite, content to spend her days rollerblading and not looking for work. Her widowed mother (Catherine Deneuve), who’s also her best friend, pushes secretarial jobs that are, in fact, beyond her limited skills and smarts.</p> <p>An attractive girl with plenty of personality but little education, curiosity or direction, Jeanne falls for a vaguely dangerous young man. A tattooed wrestler with a brother in prison, Franck (Nicolas Duvauchelle) is all drive and hustle, and their relationship gives Jeanne a sense of purpose for perhaps the first time in her life.</p> <p>Meanwhile, a fractious, brainy Jewish family in the city has its own distractions. Attorney Samuel Bleistein (Michel Blanc) is the go-to guy for TV interviews about anti-Semitic episodes, relying on the text written by his observant daughter-in-law and office manager Judith, played by Israeli star Ronit Elkabetz (“The Band’s Visit”).</p> <p>Judith’s profoundly secular estranged husband Alex (Matthieu Demy), just back from a lengthy business-related sojourn to China, rekindles their mutual enthusiasm for sniping and grudge-holding. Taking all this in without much enthusiasm is their son, whose bar mitzvah is around the corner.</p> <p>About an hour into the movie, Jeanne’s blissful domestic life with Franck is abruptly and shockingly destroyed. Catching blame from all corners, and back in her mother’s house, she happens to see a documentary on the Holocaust.</p> <p>Jeanne is moved to tears and, too immature to see the difference, somehow conflates her own humiliation and pain with the persecution of Europe’s Jews. She likewise sees herself as a victim, and devises a foolish plan.</p> <p>The initial 2004 police report generated a firestorm of coverage and ignited a controversy that was scarcely quelled by the revelation that the girl’s story was a hoax. “The Girl On the Train” gives us the faintest whiff of the brouhaha that Jeanne has created, keeping the focus instead on the tight circle of people around her.</p> <p>The Bleisteins become involved, because Jeanne’s mother knew Samuel, the attorney — how intimately is open to interpretation — in her 20s. She originally used this history to get Jeanne a job interview, but now she’s in need of legal and PR advice.</p> <p>Samuel’s measured, unemotional response will astound Americans whose blood pressure jumps with every report of European anti-Semitism. He never blames Jeanne for inflaming anti-Jewish tensions, for exacerbating anti-Arab prejudice or for giving fodder to anti-Semites. Nor does he blame Jeanne’s mother for failing to educate her daughter about politics or history.</p> <p>Instead of persecution and conspiracy, he sees a confused, naïve young woman. Rather than overreacting, or seizing the opportunity to score points in the media (and raise his profile), he dictates a conciliatory statement for Jeanne to sign, which he hopes will defuse the situation.</p> <p>Ultimately, “The Girl On the Train” isn’t about French anti-Semitism, or the way the mass media plays on prejudices. It’s really about the way that a lack of education, and insufficient life experience, leads to terrible decisions. In other words, teach your children well.</p> <p><br /><strong>“The Girl On the Train” </strong>opens March 19 at the Presidio in San Francisco, the Shattuck in Berkeley and the Camera 3 in San Jose.</p>

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