Grand Central (Rebecca Zlotowski, 2013): France, Austria

Reviewed by Emelie Eriksson. Viewed at AFI Filmfest Hollywood 2013.

If you’re in to ‘love’ and everything that comes with it, you should watch this film. It’s a well directed film about a love triangle and how it effects those involved. You get to experience it from different perspectives and you get to feel how all three partners feels about the situation. Sometimes you need to make a decision that you really don’t want to make, but you have no choice.

The director Rebecca Zlotowski does a great job with the details and the unusual setting. Her debut “Belle epine” was a great start for her and confirm her as one of France’s most serious-minded director.

A love affair between Gary Manda (Tahar Rahim) and Karole (Léa Seydoux). Karole is togehter with Gary’s friend Toni (Denis Ménochet) but when Gary starts working at the same place as them, things happen between them. Gary comes to the power plant somewhere in France to look for some quick money and he ends up getting the job at a nuclear power plant. The film opens with Tcherno (Johan Libereau) stealing Gary’s wallet on a train. They both are hoping to get hired at the nuclear power plant and before they even get there, Gary has stolen Tcherno’s wallet in revenge and after that they become good friends. They are under paid workers who have to struggle about their safety against the deadly danger they are exposed to. Gary and Karole is introduced at a bar where she kisses him to show how radiation sickness feels. Immediately Gary is stuck and he can’t stop thinking about her and soon after that, they are lovers. How do you do when your heart belongs to two, how do you choice just one?

The plant, a real decommissioned nuclear facility in Austria, turns to life again and you really get to see how they work and you get a clear picture of the work environment. Seydoux and Rahim are both very talented actors and they are able to bring some life into their characters.

A forbidden love affair isn’t the most unusual story and I’ve seen a lot of films like this before, but with this film there is something else, maybe it’s the unusual environment. I recommend this film to teenagers and adults who wants to be touched by love.