Can a Holocaust comedy actually work? The surprising case of Train of Life
In short: In the 1998 film Train of Life, an Eastern European Jewish village attempts to escape the Holocaust by staging their own deportation. By masquerading as Nazis and prisoners, they hope to reach Palestine by rail. It is a surreal, tragicomic fable that balances slapstick humor with the grim reality of war.
Directed by Radu Mihăileanu, the film follows the village lunatic, Schlomo, who convinces his community to build a train to flee the Nazis. The narrative is framed as a tale told by Schlomo, whose reliability is constantly in question. As the villagers travel through rural Eastern Europe, they encounter Communist partisans and real Nazis, creating a tense, often absurd journey that challenges the boundaries of traditional Holocaust cinema.
The film was released in 1999 alongside two other Holocaust-themed comedies, Life Is Beautiful and Jakob the Liar. While critics were divided on the success of these films, Train of Life was frequently praised for its unique, fable-like tone. Some reviewers compared its wit to the work of Sholem Aleichem and Isaac Bashevis Singer, while others noted its stylistic similarities to the films of Federico Fellini. Despite its comedic elements, the film is anchored by a haunting, unexpected epilogue that forces viewers to reconsider the entire narrative.
Mihăileanu’s approach to the subject was deliberate, aiming to use laughter as a way to keep memory alive, citing the Yiddish proverb that laughter is heard further than weeping. The film’s ultimate fate remains ambiguous; Mihăileanu suggests that Schlomo’s survival depends entirely on the audience’s memory. By refusing to drench the story in sentimentality, the film attempts to create a space where optimism and fantasy coexist with the horrors of a death-black era, earning it accolades such as the Donatello award for Best Foreign Language film.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Train of Life
- Also: Wikidata — Train of Life · CC0
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