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As well as being an ode to the pre-TGV train, 'Nord Express' is surprisingly enough also an ode to the film, especially to the film format. The breadth of travelling by train is caught perfectly in Rombout’s broad image compositions; the black strips above and below - misused in countless clips and purposely and scrupulously avoided in films on television - serve as carriers of the subtitles and the railway timetable. Time and place are carefully noted above during the section Paris-Moscow, a progressing red line on a map appeals more to the timeless romanticism of travel. However, the perspective in 'North Express' is more that of the railway workers and the train crew than that of the passengers. This is typified by the regular glimpses we are given from the driver's position. Using miniature, like the image of the large Russian woman who guards the level-crossing and tries to keep the points to Nemchinovska free of snow, Rombout succeeds in an astonishing way in combining romanticism and documentary.
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André Nientied
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Script: Rob Rombout, Christian Janssens, Camera: Louis Philippe Capelle, Light: Jean Claude Loumiet, Editing: Adriana Moreira de Oliveira, Sound: Olivier Struye, Paul Heymans, Music: Piotr Hertel, Sound editing: Jacques Clisse, Voice: Pierre Laroche, Production: Wallonie Image Production, Paradise, RTBF, C.A.C., CICV
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