Quartile rating: 7/10 · 1 rating
Fred, a raffish safe blower, takes refuge in the Paris Metro after being chased by the henchmen of a shady businessman from whom he has just stolen some documents. While hiding out in the back rooms and conduits of the Metro, Fred encounters a subterranean society of eccentric characters and petty criminals.
Luc Besson's stylish 1985 film is a visually distinctive neo-noir set in the Paris Métro, shot with flair by Carlo Varini with neon-lit underground corridors that feel wholly unique. Christopher Lambert and Isabelle Adjani bring charisma to their roles, though the ensemble of eccentric underworld characters steals the show. The plot, however, is thin and meandering — more a mood piece than a coherent narrative — and the ending feels abrupt and unsatisfying. Where the film truly excels is in its singular visual and tonal identity: a punk-inflected, romantically melancholic vision of underground Paris that is unmistakably Besson at his most idiosyncratic, making it a genuine one-of-a-kind artifact of 1980s French cinema.