The Railroad Man – Radiance

Director: Pietro Germi
Screenplay: Alfredo Giannetti, Pietro Germi, Luciano Vincenzoni
Starring: Pietro Germi, Luisa Della Noce, Sylva Koscina, Saro Urzì, Carlo Giuffrè, Renato Speziali, Edoardo Nevola
Country: Italy
Running Time: 115 min
Year: 1956
BBFC Certificate: 12

Radiance Films have got another Italian classic coming our way this month, in the form of director, writer and star Pietro Germi’s The Railroad Man. The film was a huge success in Italy on its release in 1956. This was also a time when Italian cinema audiences were among the biggest in the world. It’s less well-known these days, at least in the UK, but that’s all the more reason to give it another lease of life on Blu-ray.

The Railroad Man tells the story of Andrea Marcocci (Germi himself), a train driver who his growing distant from his two eldest children, unemployed son Marcello (Renato Speziali) and pregnant daughter Giulia (Sylva Koscina). The latter is forced to marry her boyfriend Renato Borghi (Carlo Giuffrè), even though their relationship is strained.

Andrea’s already troubled life takes a dramatic turn when a suicidal man steps out in front of his train one day and is killed. This traumatic event triggers a series of personal and professional setbacks for Andrea. He begins to make errors at work, leading to a demotion and a decrease in salary, and he struggles with the emotional aftermath, increasingly turning to alcohol. This only further distances Andrea from his adult children and his wife, Sara (Luisa Della Noce).

Caught up in all of this is Andrea’s youngest son, Sandro (Edoardo Nevola), from whose perspective we witness the family’s disintegration.

The Railroad Man is not considered to be part of the Italian Neorealist movement, but the film shares a few of its qualities. It certainly has that air of naturalism in a visual sense, making good use of locations at times and focusing on the working classes.

The film presents a crowd-pleasing blend of sadness and sweetness. As such, it’s not a highly political film, but it is critical of the union, which is shown to be indifferent to the problems of our protagonist. This is unusual for an Italian film at the time, as social dramas like this often leaned towards the left.

The film is largely focused on its theme of family unity though, as well as looking at alcoholism and depression. It takes a more sensitive approach to those latter two subjects than most films of its era. Both Andrea and Giulia are suffering from the effects of trauma, with the former turning to drink and the latter shutting herself off from the rest of the world. We don’t get impassioned speeches or clunky diagnoses, we just observe how they suffer and how they attempt to face these problems.

The relationship between Sandro and his father is crucial here too (particularly as much of the film is told from the boy’s perspective). We see the youngster often being sent to bring his father home from the bar. In this way, Sandro is seen as the responsible figure in their relationship, in a way, yet the boy still seems to look up to Andrea and loves him dearly.

There are a few brazenly melodramatic moments that date the film but, for the most part, it is relatively understated. Much is done through expression and body language, rather than dialogue. This is aided by the decision to tell much of the story from the perspective of a child. Sandro isn’t allowed to openly witness all the grim details of his family’s problems, but he’s old and smart enough to know something is wrong.

Young Edoardo Nevola, who plays Sandro, also provides a voiceover narration through much of the film. Having a child actor narrate the film like this could have gone horribly wrong but, thankfully, Nevola does a great job. His performance, in general, feels wonderfully natural, and he’s cute without being cloying. Around 1,500 children were reportedly auditioned for the role, and Nevola was only around 7 when the film was made. So he was an extremely talented young man and continued to work in film and TV for many years following this.

The Railroad Man is finely crafted, from a technical perspective, with handsomely framed and lit cinematography, some elegant movement, keenly detailed production design and silky smooth editing.

In one of the extras on the disc, Mario Sesti praises the film’s score too. I wasn’t as impressed myself though. I found it to be overused and often merely pitched quietly in the background as a form of ‘elevator music’, which I found a little insipid in places.

This is a minor complaint in an otherwise first-rate film though. The Railroad Man is a touching family drama that tells its story with elegance and heart.

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