The Girl on the Train

André Téchiné’s latest film characteristically harnesses an accomplished ensemble cast to tell a story that unfolds with all the subtlety and richness of an expansive, well-structured novel. Emilie Dequenne plays young Jeanne, who applies for a secretarial job in the law firm run by Samuel Bleistein (Michel Blanc) – a leading figure in Paris’s Jewish community, and a former admirer of Jeanne’s mother Louise (Catherine Deneuve). Jeanne meanwhile forms a relationship with aspiring wrestler Franck (a charismatic Nicolas Duvauchelle), but their idyll is disrupted by a brutal incident which leaves Jeanne traumatized – and reacting in an unusual and extreme manner. As this leisurely drama develops, the characters’ personal dramas interweave with the political background, in particular the resurgence of French anti-Semitism. The cast is uniformly strong, Blanc especially piquant, but in particular the film is a terrific showcase for Dequenne, in her strongest lead role since the Dardenne brothers’ career-making Rosetta, and playing a part every bit as prickly and defiant as in that film. This is a provocative and involving piece from a sure-footed, but often underestimated, French master. —BFI