"Tickets" (Language - English/Albanian/Italian) (2005) - Movie Review

There are three segments happening in a train. Directors Abbas Kiarostami, Ken Loach and Ermanno Olmi direct those. The whole movie is been credited to all the three directors and hence it does not seem each segment is created by each one. Stories in train are an interesting and happening place. It appears claustrophobic but still gives a view of the outer world. All the places are instantaneous. Nothing is certain. It happens in a bus too but there is a sense of detachment and attachment with the train. Maybe it is the ambience of providing an environment of outer world yet confined in a boundary. It is world shrunken in to it. I guess that’s the reason these three directors chose this concept as a theme.

The first one is the most detached one or as a personal opinion did not appeal to me very much. It is a professor (Carlo Delle Piane) who is lost in his imagination or may be real. He returns from an assignment on a train. In his journey he thinks back the few moments he spent with a younger lady than him. Even though as a whole it did not appeal to me as rest of the two, the sequence in which the professor explains his feeling to her over dinner is astounding and true. Or may be he is just day dreaming as he says. That’s where he has the courage to say what he feels. Age does not apply out there as he says. It is a poetic way of conveying that point, but some where it gets predictable and uncorrelated. It is not boring but does not fit with the rest of the scenes in it. But it has the way of arranging the jig saw not for completing it, but for the experience of it.

The second segment is the most intriguing and intuitive piece of all. We see an old lady (Silvana De Santis) whose face appearance and the way she emote her in the public is so annoying and irritating. It is this prejudice concept we form and the director(s) cleverly tricks us. It is these small little terrific surprises which makes this to stand out from the rest. Perceptions are shattered in this segment. How fast we form opinions and how well it may not hold for a situation is explained in detail in this small segment. It says that situations differ and finding a sequence of pattern will only lead to embarrassment. At the same time, the resultant of those dominations and nagging can very well put some one in the most miserable and pathetic position. The character of the young guy Filippo (Filippo Trojano) is amazing. We are surprised by how easily he is allowing this old lady to walk over him. The truth is revealed in few moments. And when the end comes with the old lady realizes her mistakes, it is too late. And she asks nicely to the next man to help her rather than frowning. A lesson learned hard. Silvana De Santis sparkles and makes us irritate that character so much and at the same time sense some sort of empathy towards her. We realize that she still expects the attention she got when she was young and it is amazingly shown when she ogles at the beautiful women. She wants to be the centre of attention and does not even recognize the service Filippo is offering her. Truly a master piece of a segment.

The final segment is entertaining and tragic in its own way. Here too the director(s) plays with our judgments and perceptions. Three Scottish boys (Martin Compston, William Ruane, Gary Maitland) are going for a game to Rome. They become friendly with an Albanian boy. They learn that he is traveling with his family and going to meet his father. The family comes in rest of the segments. In rest though they are not the main characters while they play a major part in this piece of the movie. This segment is funny, sad and emotional. I am sure most of us would have been in the miserable position of losing a ticket. Here it happens and they suspect the boy. The rest is an amazing battle of emotions and prejudice. They bring in the pattern out here too. And again say that there is no consistency in characters of human. It depends on the situation and of all conscience. May be we might be fooled and lost, but end of day we answer ourselves to sleep well. Here the moment is for these three boys. The end of course is cheesy but at that point of time, we want the boys to escape and enjoy the moment with them.