Original title: Pociag do Hollywood
Running time: 95 minutes
Language: Polish
Locations: was filmed in WroclawLower SilesiaPoland
Mariola Wafelek lives in an old railroad car parked on the siding. She works in buffet car on long distance trains selling beer to scruffy passengers. She grew up in small town and as kid she saw Billy Wilder’s "Some Like It Hot" in travelling cinema and that changed her whole life. She started to dream of becoming and actress like Marilyn Monroe, she even prefers everyone to call her Marilyn. She worked hard and went for auditions to a film academy, where she did well, but was rejected due to her crooked teeth. That did not affect her determination - convinced her destiny is to reach Hollywood she continues to work in buffet car and live in poor conditions on the rail siding, she improves her skills and uses horribly looking metal equipment to straighten her teeth. One day two boozy passengers have found an insect in their beer and tried to force Marilyn to drink it. Young Piotr came to her help and drank the beer himself. Next time they meet she helps him from being arrested. Soon they discover they have a lot in common - Piotr tried to join the same film academy, film directing department, but was rejected due to his colour-blindness. Marilyn tells him about her dreams of Hollywood and about the letters she is writing to Billy Wilder, but never gets any answers. With her help Piotr gets the job as props assistant and she is given chance to play small part in a movie.
Train for Hollywood is one of those movies that can’t be described in just few words - it is drama, but in some way it is comedy as well, it is mostly sad and even depressing movie that has some small bits of positive looks on life. As the director Radoslaw Piwowarski once described it is story of chasing the dreams even if they seem completely out of our reach. He shows how the dreams from childhood affect our life as adults. The final scene was planned to take place in Hollywood, where Marilyn finally is contacted by Billy Wilder, but since Poland was still a communist country Piwowarski was never given the promised permission to shoot any scenes in USA. Of course beautiful and sexy Katarzyna Figura was perfect for the role of girl from small town dreaming of Hollywood career and she was one of very few reasons the film was remembered.
The film also shows how sad, scruffy and neglected the Polish railways were at the end of communism. Although the image is exaggerated to show how life of Marilyn was different from her dream, it shows state of decay the railways were in early 1980s.
Our rating
3.6
/ 10
Film value
3
/ 10
Train scenes
3
/ 5
Adventure
1
/ 5
Scenery
2
/ 5
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