Runaway Train

If we didn't watch Runaway Train in class, I probably would never have picked it up and watched it on my own. The movie was so exciting and fast-moving that I couldn't really think about the other important things like symbolism, but from Mr. Bennett talking about it a little before class, I was able to pick up on some of it. What I didn't like about the film was the part with his hand and the blood and him climbing under the train. That was just disturbing; the violence, I could deal with, because it contributed to the chaos of the prison, but since I haven't figured out what the meaning behind the hand thing is, I'm just going to label it as unnecessarily gross.

Manny is the prisoner who is "a hero" to all the others. He was sort of their 'Jesus' and Manny is compared to Jesus a few times in the film. Both Jesus and Manny were stabbed in the hand, and when Manny was escaping, the prisoners were going crazy and a picture of Jesus was sprayed off the wall. Especially at the end, when he decides to save the others and disconnect the head of the train from the other carts. Manny is also compared to a train, especially at the beginning, foreshadowing the events to follow: He makes steam noises that sound like a train. Because you know that Manny is like this runaway train, many of the train's actions show us something about Manny's character. The train keeps going, crushing anything in its path, and you get the sense that Manny is like that too.

I like the character of Manny because he isn't what you expect. Because he's a prisoner and a criminal, people automatically assume him to be a terrible person that doesn't know anything about the value of life, but Manny disproves that throughout the film. Buck's character isn't as likable because well...his voice is funny and he's a raist.

We talked about existentialism the day before we started this film and I see the connection. Manny's speech about working the job and just sucking it up and cleaning that spot conveys that life sorta has no meaning and people just go through everyday cleaning that spot. And the whole thing about being alone in life is something Manny constantly reminds Buck (and Sarah) in the film.